Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in his Department are employed on zero hours contracts.

David Mundell: No staff in the Scotland Office are employed on a zero-hours contract.

Broadband

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to tackle the practice of slamming in the broadband industry.

Edward Vaizey: This is a matter for the independent communications regulator, Ofcom. DCMS officials have spoken with Ofcom and can advise that:
	Slamming is where someone's broadband or telephone line is switched to another provider without their consent. Ofcom is committed to tackling slamming and has a number of rules in place to prevent it. Ofcom rules explicitly prohibit all companies from engaging in dishonest, misleading or deceptive conduct, and oblige providers to ensure consumers fully understand and consent to a contract before it is agreed.
	There are also a number of safeguards built into the switching process which are specifically designed to protect consumers from being slammed. According to these rules, consumers must receive a letter informing them of the imminent switch, with a 10-day switchover period during which the order can be stopped. Typically, the consumer will receive letters from both companies involved. This gives them the ability to cancel any inadvertent transfer before it happens. Since the introduction of these rules three years ago, the number of average monthly mis-selling and slamming complaints has fallen from 845 per month in the 12 months prior to these rules being introduced, to 460 complaints per month in the last 12 months.
	Ofcom can and will take action if companies repeatedly breach these rules and has the power to fine providers up to 10% of annual turnover.
	In addition, Ofcom is currently reviewing the switching process for broadband and landline services delivered over BT’s copper telephone network. Ofcom has been consulting on proposed changes to the current process aimed at ensuring there are no undue barriers to switching and guarding against unintended consequences, such as slamming.

Broadband

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to promote retail competition in the super-fast broadband market.

Edward Vaizey: The Government is committed to achieving a transformation in broadband in the UK by 2015 and we already have a highly competitive retail broadband market
	Ofcom, the independent communications regulator, is responsible for monitoring the broadband market Where it finds evidence of insufficient competition, or a position of significant market power, Ofcom is required to regulate to promote competition. For example, in the past, Ofcom has required BT to provide access to its street cabinets, through a process known as sub-loop unbundling, and to provide access to its duct and pole infrastructure. These actions in support of competition have led to the UK having one of the most competitive broadband markets in Europe as shown by the European Broadband Scorecard published by Ofcom in March 2013.
	The Scorecard, which focuses on the five leading economies in the EU (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain), found that the UK has some of the lowest fixed and mobile broadband prices among the comparator countries and the proportion of fixed lines operated by the incumbent was the lowest (BT at 31%) and the market share of the largest mobile operator is the joint lowest (EE, with 33%).

Broadband

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the regulatory structure of the UK retail super-fast broadband market.

Edward Vaizey: Ofcom, the independent communications regulator, is responsible for monitoring the broadband market within a regulatory framework set by the EU. Consequently It regularly carries out market reviews to ensure competition across all telecommunication services. Where Ofcom finds there is insufficient competition, that is, there is a dominant supplier which is not constrained by competition, it is required to introduce regulation to address this.
	Ofcom has recently commenced a new review of fixed access markets and this will also help ensure any future regulatory framework for the retail super-fast broadband market remains effective.

Football: Tickets

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will commission an investigation into recent trends in football season ticket prices and the effects on consumers of any price rises.

Hugh Robertson: While the Government acknowledges supporters' concerns over recent rises in football season ticket prices, the matter is one for individual football clubs and not for Government.

Mobile Phones

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which company holds the largest contract to provide mobile telephony services to her Department; how much was paid under the contract in the last year for which figures are available; how many individual services are covered by the contract; when the contract was awarded; when the contract will next be renewed; and for how long.

Hugh Robertson: The largest providers of mobile telephone services to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are O2 (for BlackBerry smartphones) and Vodafone (for other mobile phones, pagers and tablets).
	These are employed via call-off agreements from a Government Procurement Service framework, which operates on a rolling one-year contract. The contract was last renewed in February this year and will be reviewed towards the end of the year to decide what the requirements of the Department will be moving forward.
	The table sets out how much the Department has paid to Vodafone and 02 in 2012-13.
	
		
			 Company Paid to company in 2012-13 (£) Number of handsets 
			 O2 88,963.45 270 
			 Vodafone 17,977.13 46

Olympic Games 2012

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of Olympic legacy funding has been spent on (a) sports and (b) the arts; and what proportion remains unspent.

Hugh Robertson: There has never been a single central Government or other pot for funding the various legacy programmes that have been developed as part of the London 2012 Games. The legacy programmes are owned and funded by a range of bodies, including Government Departments, arm’s length bodies, the GLA, local authorities, LOCOG and private sector organisations, and relate to sport and healthy living, communities, the economic legacy, regeneration of East London and disability.

Public Lending Right

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the transfer of public lending rights functions to the British Library will require primary legislation.

Edward Vaizey: The Registrar of Public Lending Right is listed in Schedule 1 of the Public Bodies Act 2011, which confers a series of order-making powers on Ministers to abolish, merge, or modify constitutional or funding arrangements, or modify or transfer functions of public bodies through secondary legislation.

Public Libraries

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what information she holds on the charges levied by public libraries for the loan of audio books; and what the income received by each local authority area from this service in the last 12 months was.

Edward Vaizey: The financial information requested is not held centrally by this Department as it is a matter for individual authorities. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) collects financial information from library authorities annually, including information relating to the hiring of audio and visual material and copies of CIPFA statistics are available in the House Library.

Public Libraries

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many audio-book loans have been recorded in UK public libraries in each year since 2010.

Edward Vaizey: The data requested is not collected by this Department. However the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) collects, annually, information relating to audiobook loans from the library authorities and copies of CIPFA statistics a re available in the House Library.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what processes her Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by her Department.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) monitors and collates cost information on regulations introduced through the Statement of New Regulation. The Statement of New Regulation is a Government wide publication that lists regulatory and deregulatory measures and their expected impact on businesses.
	DCMS has used the Red Tape Challenge process to review existing regulations, and in particular invite requests from stakeholders to amend or revoke regulations that impose unnecessary burdens on business.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by her Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended;
	(2)  if she will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by her Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were.

Hugh Robertson: The information requested is provided in the following table, based on the following definitions:
	Regulation: a measure within scope of the One-in, One-out (OIOO) or One-in, Two-out (OITO)
	Introduced: the date at which a regulation came into force
	Business impact: the annual net cost to business (negative should be interpreted as benefits)
	The One-in, One-out rule came into force in January 2011. The One-in, Two-out rule replaced the One-in, One-out rule from January 2013. EU derived regulatory measures are out of scope of OIOO and OITO. The machinery of government change brought the Government Equalities Office (GEO) under control of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in September 2012. This table also covers the period when GEO was under the control of the Secretary of State for the Home Department.
	
		
			 Title of regulation Introduced Legislation Business impact (£ million) 
			 Positive Action—recruitment and promotion in employment (s159 Equality Act 2010) 6 April 2011 New 0.0 (OIOO) 
			 The Media Ownership (Radio and Cross-Media) Order 2011 15 June 2011 Amend 0.0 (OIOO) 
			 The Gambling Act 2005 (Gaming Machines in Adult Gaming Centres and Bingo Premises) Order 2011 13 July 2011 Amend -8.6 (OIOO) 
			 The Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 5 December 2011 New 0.0 (OIOO) 
			 The Local Television Programme Services Order 2012 14 February 2012 Amend 0.0 (OIOO) 
			 The Gambling (Operating Licence and Single-Machine Permit Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 6 April 2012 Amend -0.7 (OIOO) 
			 The Gambling Act 2005 (Amendment of Schedule 6) Order 2012 22 June 2012 Amend -0.1 (OIOO) 
			 The Broadcasting (Local Digital Television Programme Services and Independent Productions) (Amendment) Order 2012 12 July 2012 Amend 0.0 (OIOO) 
			 The Video Recordings (Labelling) Regulations 2012 30 July 2012 Amend 0.0 (OIOO) 
			 The Live Music Act 2012 (Commencement) Order 1 October 2012 Amend -0.4 (OIOO) 
			 The Equality Act 2010 (Age Exceptions) Order 2012 1 October 2012 New 0.0 (OIOO) 
			 The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations 2013 6 April 2013 Amend -0.8 (OITO)

Rugby: World Cup

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  if she will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent the unauthorised resale tickets to the Rugby World Cup 2015;
	(2)  what discussions she has had with the Rugby Football Union and other representatives of the sport with regard to the sale of Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets on the secondary market.

Hugh Robertson: I have regular meetings with the chair and chief executive of England Rugby 2015 and the DCMS representative on the board. We are in discussions with ER 2015 about how best Government can help them deliver a great tournament. This is one of the issues my officials are looking at with them.

Sports: Public Appointments

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with (a) Sport England, (b) UK Sport and (c) other Secretaries of State about the appointment of the new chairs of (i) Sport England and (ii) UK Sport.

Hugh Robertson: The appointments were made in accordance with the OCPA Code, regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. In accordance with that Code both organisations advised on the skills needed to chair both boards.

Sports: Public Appointments

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recommendations the interview panel chaired by Sir Keith Mills gave on the appointments of the new chairs of (a) UK Sport and (b) Sport England.

Hugh Robertson: The appointments were made in accordance with the OCPA Code, regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. In accordance with the Code, an independent selection panel was chaired by a public appointments assessor, appointed by the commissioner. The panel report described the conduct of the selection process and is confidential.

Sports: Public Appointments

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by what process the new chair of (a) Sport England and (b) UK Sport was appointed.

Hugh Robertson: The appointment process was conducted under the terms of the OCPA Code.

Sports: Public Appointments

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recommendation the (a) Minister of State for Sport and Tourism and (b) the Olympics Legacy Ambassador made about the appointments of the new chairs of (i) UK Sport and (ii) Sport England.

Hugh Robertson: The appointments were made in accordance with the OCPA Code. My views were taken into account, as part of the appointments process. The Olympics legacy ambassador was not involved in the appointment process.

Tourism

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to promote the whole of the UK as a holiday destination to international tourists.

Hugh Robertson: Through VisitBritain, we have created the biggest ever international tourism campaign, as we look to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by 2012. Government has invested £50 million in a £100 million tactical marketing campaign and £34.5 million in the tourism pillar of the GREAT Britain image campaign. Together they will deliver 4.7 million extra visitors and £2.3 billion additional spend over four years. All the UK will continue to benefit from this funding.

Biofuels

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when his Department plans to begin applying the findings of its new Biomass Emissions calculator.

Michael Fallon: We are developing a model to investigate the possible carbon impacts of different bioenergy feedstocks and different land uses, to help ensure we have robust evidence behind our bioenergy policies. A preliminary version of the tool has been discussed with stakeholders, as part of a peer review process. We are aiming to publish this tool in the summer. The model is not intended as a tool for regulation.

Coal Gasification

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make a statement on underground coal gasification technology.

Michael Fallon: Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) involves the partial in-situ combustion of deep underground coal seams to produce a gas for use as an energy source. UCG is very much in its infancy at this stage, but I am keen that we play our part in creating a regulatory environment which helps rather than hinders those with ambitions in the sector. Our NDPB, the Coal Authority, is very much in the lead as the freehold owner of the coal resource and the licensing body for the exploitation of coal. The authority has to date issued some 14 conditional near offshore UCG licences to companies keen to pursue the technology further in Great Britain. These enable prospective operators to secure the rights to the coal while projects are developed but importantly do not permit UCG operations to commence until all other rights and permissions are in place.

Energy Efficiency Deployment Office

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the progress of the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office in delivering its national energy efficiency strategy.

Gregory Barker: The Energy Efficiency Deployment Office (EEDO) is currently implementing the Energy Efficiency Strategy, which we published in November 2012. We are actively monitoring progress against our commitments, and will report on this and the Government’s other energy efficiency achievements and priorities in the Energy Efficiency Strategy update in November 2013.

Energy Efficiency Deployment Office

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the total cost of the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office has been to date.

Gregory Barker: Since its launch in February 2012, the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Energy Efficiency Deployment Office (EEDO) has incurred running costs of £5.83 million (total confirmed administrative costs for financial year 2011-12 and 2012-13).
	In addition, EEDO co-ordinates a research and development budget (total £3.53 million to end 2012-13) which supports the wider International Climate Change and Energy Efficiency business group. EEDO now has responsibility for the Salix Fund (to which it has provided £38 million capital spend, to end 2012-13). EEDO initially had responsibility for a £22.5 million Rural Development Agencies programme, but it has since transferred to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Energy Efficiency Deployment Office

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many of his Department’s officials work at the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office.

Gregory Barker: As of 16 May 2013, 41 of the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s officials worked within the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office (EEDO). In addition, EEDO employs a non-executive chair (part-time) and an engineering specialist, who are not departmental officials. As EEDO also hosts a number of EEDO economists who work to support other teams, and has several vacancies, they expect to operate at around 50 FTE for the rest of 2013-14.
	A number of EEDO officials provide dedicated support to specific energy efficiency programmes like the Green Deal and others have cross-cutting roles across the wider International Climate Change and Energy Efficiency group.

Energy: Competition

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the answer of 14 March 2013, Official Report, column 465, on energy market competition, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of low liquidity in the wholesale power market on new market participants entering the energy market.

Michael Fallon: We believe low wholesale market liquidity, in the forward markets especially, is acting as a barrier to entry for new market participants.
	In order to compete in the generation and retail markets, new entrants and potential new entrants, need to be able to manage their risks by trading forwards. Poor liquidity in the forward markets, therefore, reduces risk management opportunities and, along with the cost of trading, acts as a key barrier to entry and greater competition.
	Ofgem is currently taking forward reforms to address liquidity concerns and we are encouraged by its indication of a strong preference for intervention, with a decision expected by summer 2013. Given the importance of liquidity to competition Government is also seeking backstop powers in the current Energy Bill to address the issue if it proves necessary.

Energy: Foreign Investment in UK

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the answer of 14 March 2013, Official Report, column 464, on new generating capacity (investment), what evidential basis he used to state that the UK is one of the most attractive places in the world to invest in energy infrastructure.

Michael Fallon: The UK is an attractive and welcoming destination for energy investment and is attracting interest from potential new investors across renewables, nuclear and carbon capture and storage. Ernst & Young's most recent attractiveness indices rated the UK as one of the top six worldwide destinations to invest in renewable energy (February 2013). The UK has the most installed offshore wind capacity in the world and we have the four largest offshore wind farms. We also have more installed wave and tidal capacity than any other country.
	The current Energy Bill will further improve the attractiveness of the UK market, with Contracts for Difference, providing long-term revenue stabilisation for low-carbon generators, and powers to introduce a capacity market to incentivise reliable capacity.

Energy: Housing

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many off-gas grid installations he expects to be delivered under the renewable heat premium payment.

Gregory Barker: Phase 1 of the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) scheme delivered 5,417 off-gas grid installations. The Energy Saving Trust is still processing outstanding claims made under phase 2 and a small number of existing projects have until 30 June 2013 to complete, but we estimate that a further 9,000 off-gas grid installations will be delivered.
	In addition, we are hoping to see at least another 9,000 off-gas grid installations this financial year following the extension of the scheme.

Energy: Housing

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps the Government is taking to ensure that off-grid customers benefit from fuel efficiency and other assistance programmes commensurate with assistance available to on-grid households.

Gregory Barker: We are helping people to cut their energy waste through a variety of policies that are available to consumers whether they are on or off-grid such as the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation.
	We also provide Ofgem with enabling powers to ensure that around 9,000 consumers in remote communities can receive gas at a similar price to consumers elsewhere in GB. This protects some of the most vulnerable gas customers.

Green Deal Scheme

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many Green Deal assessments took place in (a) Scotland, (b) England and Wales, (c) Wales in (i) January, (ii) February, (iii) March and (iv) April 2013.

Gregory Barker: The latest Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation monthly statistics, as released on 14 May:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-deal-and-energy-company-obligation-eco-monthly-statistics-may-2013
	report the following number of Green Deal Assessments lodged in each month, for the whole of Great Britain:
	
		
			  Number 
			 January 2013 74 
			 February 2013 1,729 
			 March 2013 7,491 
			 April 2013 9,522 
		
	
	DECC will publish, on 27 June, our first quarterly Official Statistics publication which will contain more detailed analysis of Green Deal Assessments lodged up to the end of March.

Natural Gas: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the quantity of coal gas off the coast of North Wales;
	(2)  what public consultation has taken place concerning the exploration and extraction of coal gas off the coast of North Wales;
	(3)  what licences have been issued for the purpose of coal gas exploration and extraction off the coast of North Wales;
	(4)  what assessment he has made of the potential environmental effect of coal gas exploration off the North Wales coast;
	(5)  what assessment he has made of the adequacy of health and safety procedures used for the flooding of the Point of Ayr colliery pit; what information his Department holds on any proposed gas and mineral extraction from the (a) onshore and (b) offshore areas near to the pit; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  what licences have been issued for the purpose of mineral and gas extraction in North Wales in each of the last 10 years; what the name was of each company to whom a licence was granted; and in which year each such licence was issued.

Michael Fallon: “Coal gas” could refer to production by in-situ combustion of coal of a mixture of combustible gases, a process usually known as underground coal gasification or UCG; or extraction of methane from coal seams by drilling, usually known as coal bed methane or CBM.
	As regards licences for areas off the coast of North Wales:
	In January 2013 the Coal Authority issued a conditional licence to Cluff Natural Resources plc for the potential development of a UCG project in the Dee estuary.
	Seaward Production Licence P1481 was issued by the Department on 13 June 2007 and it is currently held by Island Gas Ltd.
	No assessment has been made by DECC of the magnitude of either resource, or of potential environmental effects, and no public consultation has been conducted. It is expected that any near-shore development of either type would in practice be carried out from facilities located onshore, but no planning application for either activity has been made to date. It would be for the relevant planning authority, as and when any such application may be made, to consider the environmental effects and conduct appropriate public consultation.
	In the last 10 years five Petroleum Act licences covering acreage some or all of which lies in North Wales have been issued:
	PEDL147 was awarded 1 April 2005 and is currently held by GP Energy Limited;
	PEDL184 was awarded 8 October 2008 and is currently held by Island Gas Limited;
	PEDL185 was awarded 3 September 2008 and is currently held by Dart Energy (West England) Limited;
	PEDL186 was awarded 4 September 2008 and is currently held by GP Energy Limited; and
	PEDL187 was awarded 4 September 2008 and is currently held by GP Energy Limited.
	In addition, PEDL107, currently held by Island Gas Limited, was issued on 11 March 2002; it is included here because its licensed area lies close to Point of Ayr. None of these licences are specific to particular forms of gas; they all cover all native hydrocarbons. They do not give permission for any specific operations. Any questions about what a licensee plans to do in the future should be addressed to the licensee himself.
	A licence for surface mining of coal was granted to Brymbo Developments on 4 December 2003. The site, at Brymbo near Wrexham, worked from January 2004 until September 2005 and produced some 87,500 tonnes of coal. The licence expired on 15 November 2005.
	Health and safety considerations around the closure of any coal mine are matters for the operator in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency.

Offshore Industry: Safety

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the offshore oil and gas (a) workforce and (b) industry of the draft European Union Directive on Offshore Safety.

Michael Fallon: The UK argued successfully for a directive, as opposed to a Regulation, on Offshore Safety.
	As the draft directive largely duplicates our existing UK regime the workforce will continue to be protected by a robust framework and the economic effects on the industry are therefore likely to be far less than those of a regulation.
	An impact assessment will be prepared when legislative proposals are made to implement the final text of the directive.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department.

Gregory Barker: Every six months the Government publishes overarching Statements of New Regulation. These statements list the regulations that each Department expects to introduce over the coming six months. They also include an account of the Government's performance under “One In One Out” and, more recently, “One In Two Out”, broken down by Department, showing the net business impact of the regulations added and removed by each Department. Published Statements of New Regulation are available at:
	www.gov.uk
	The Department publishes its own Statements of New Regulation, and it also publishes Impact Assessments on all regulations which impose significant cost to business. These Impact Assessments are available from:
	www.legislation.gov.uk
	The Department includes review or sunset clauses in new regulations where appropriate, to ensure they continue to be scrutinised. We also have a strong programme of monitoring and evaluation embedded in our systems for policy and programme management. Specific focus is given to policies and programmes that are high risk or high uncertainty, large-scale or high-profile, amenable to real learning or pilots. The Department will also be producing scrutiny memoranda on certain Acts for which it is responsible to enable the Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change to decide whether a fuller post-legislative inquiry would be appropriate in relation to any of them.
	We consulted our stakeholders on DECC's regulations as part of the Red Tape Challenge and we are in the process of implementing the outcomes. We are always happy to consider new suggestions for how our regulations can be improved.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended.

Gregory Barker: I will write to my hon. Friend and will place a copy of my reply in the Libraries of the House.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the remit of the low carbon communities challenge; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: We conducted an evaluation of the Low Carbon Communities Challenge project and published a report synthesising the results in July 2012, available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-communities-challenge-evaluation-report

Renewable Energy

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of incentives that will exist for the purchase of renewable energy from independent generators when the renewables obligation ends.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 16 May 2013
	During our call for evidence last year, we heard concerns that some independent renewable generators are finding it more difficult to secure long-term contracts to sell their power on viable terms, and that this situation may persist as we move from the renewables obligation to the contract for difference support mechanism.
	The Government's view is that contracts for difference (CfDs) will open up new opportunities for independent generation developers and will support the development of a more competitive market for power purchase agreements. Government is working closely with industry to smooth the transition to the new regime, and has included powers in the Energy Bill to give it the flexibility to act to improve the route to market for independents if it becomes necessary. Government is also considering whether there is a case for further action to ensure that the market is ready for the CfD and that independent generators are able to actively participate in it.

Renewable Energy

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the amount of funding provided by (a) wind energy companies and (b) coal or gas companies for community benefit schemes.

Gregory Barker: The Government has not made an estimate of the amount of funding provided by wind energy, coal or gas companies. However, some companies provide community benefits on a voluntary basis.

Renewable Energy

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which projects are currently prioritised by the Office for Renewable Energy Deployment; what financial support is currently provided for each such project; what roadshows have been held promoting the take up of these technologies; what liaison the Office has had with the related offices in each of the devolved Administrations on each project; and which projects are jointly being developed with EU institutions having the mission to promote and develop renewable energy technologies.

Gregory Barker: The Office for Renewable Energy Deployment (ORED) does not prioritise individual renewable energy projects.
	In 2011 ORED published a Renewable Energy Roadmap that sets out how the Government expects to reach its goal of generating 15% of energy use from renewable sources by 2020. The Roadmap, as updated in 2012, focus on eight key technologies that have either the greatest potential to help meet the 2020 target in a cost-effective and sustainable way, or offer the greatest potential for the UK in the decades that follow. In no priority order, these technologies are:
	onshore wind
	offshore wind
	marine energy
	biomass electricity
	biomass heat
	air source and ground source heat pumps
	renewable transport
	solar.
	ORED has not held any roadshows promoting any of these technologies.
	The renewable obligation (RO) and the feed-in tariffs (FITs) scheme provide market-based support for large scale and small scale low carbon technologies.
	Officials from ORED are in regular dialogue with related offices in the devolved Administrations on a number of issues of joint interest, such as support mechanisms available to renewable technologies, investment opportunities in renewables and the UK renewables supply chain.
	Likewise, ORED officials engage with EU institutions to promote and develop renewable energy technologies. For example, officials are currently working to support the delivery of two tidal projects funded through the EU New Entrant Reserve (NER) 300 fund.

Wind Power

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when the Onshore Wind call for evidence will be published.

Michael Fallon: We are finalising the Government Response to the Onshore Wind call for evidence and will publish a report on Part A (Community Engagement and Benefits) and Part B (Costs) shortly.

Carbon Monoxide

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many instances of carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of faulty solid fuel burners there have been in each year since 2010.

Don Foster: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The most recent statistics available on carbon monoxide poisoning are set out in the annual report of the Cross Government Group on Gas Safety and Carbon Monoxide Awareness. This is available on the Health and Safety Executive's website at:
	www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/cross-government-group.htm
	The impact assessment supporting the Building and Approved Inspectors (Amendment) Regulations 2010 SI. No. 719 includes an analysis of fatalities caused by carbon monoxide poisoning from solid fuel appliances for the years 2002 to 2008. This is available on the Legislation.Gov.UK website at:
	www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2010/88/pdfs/ukia_20100088.pdf

Change of Use

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to his statement of 9 May 2013, Official Report, columns 4-6WS, on planning: re-use of buildings, 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the likely effect on the number of public houses of his proposal to allow businesses currently covered by A1, A2 and A3 use classes to open up in premises currently used as a public house without having to apply for planning permission;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the likely effect on public health of enabling fast food premises to open up using the new permitted development rights in A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, D1 and D2 premises;
	(3)  what permission will businesses that have opened up using permitted development rights in A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, D1 and D2 premises have to apply for once two years have elapsed.

Nicholas Boles: Existing permitted development rights allow for public houses to change use to businesses within the Al, A2 and A3 use classes. The new relaxations will not change this position. Hot food takeaways are within the A5 use class. The new permitted development rights allow for change of use away from A5 use but not for conversion to A5 use. Businesses using the new temporary permitted development rights can seek full planning permission at any time during the two-year period. Ministers meet regularly to discuss Government business, and these changes were agreed across Government in the usual way.

Change of Use

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the likely effect on pubs of the introduction of a flexible use class to ease temporary change of use on the high street;
	(2)  how his Department will monitor the effect on his decision to introduce a new flexible use class on (a) the high street and (b) agricultural communities;
	(3)  to which organisations (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department spoke in advance of the announcement made last week that new permitted development rights would be put in place for change of use on the high street.

Nicholas Boles: A final impact assessment for the new permitted development rights to promote the reuse of existing buildings, taking account of consultation responses, is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/197804/reuse_of_existing_buildings_-_impact_assessment.pdf
	We are committed to supporting community pubs, and local authorities have tools they can use where locally appropriate to protect pubs, for example by introducing an article 4 direction or including relevant policies in their local plan.
	We will continue to keep the operation of the use class system under review. Our approach to monitoring and review of the changes is set out in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (England) Order 2013 which is available at:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/1101/memorandum/contents
	The changes set out in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (England) Order 2013 were the result of a call for evidence on changes to handling change of use in 2011 and a formal consultation exercise on proposals for making better use of existing buildings in 2012. They also implement recommendations from Mary Portas' review to reduce restrictive planning red tape. This provided for discussions with key partners and other Government Departments to inform the final policy.

Change of Use

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what timescale he has put in place to assess the effect of the new office to residential permitted development right;
	(2)  what plans his Department has to consider further exemptions from the new office to residential permitted development right;
	(3)  what plans his Department has to review the areas excluded from the new office to residential permitted development right;
	(4)  for how long exemptions from the new office to residential permitted development right will remain in place;
	(5)  what criteria were used to decide which areas should be exempt from the new office to residential permitted development right;
	(6)  how many local authorities submitted a request for exemption, for all or part of their local authority area, from the new office to residential permitted development right.

Nicholas Boles: Our approach to monitoring and review of the changes is set out in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (England) Order 2013 which is available at:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/1101/memorandum/contents
	The Department for Communities and Local Government received requests for exemption from the permitted development rights for change of use from office to residential uses from 165 local planning authorities. A robust and thorough assessment of all requests was carried out against the criteria set out in the Chief Planner's letter of 24 January, taking into account the strength of the case and the robustness of the supporting evidence. Following this assessment process there will not be another opportunity to request an exemption during the three-year period that the new rights are in place.

Children: Barnsley

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many children in Barnsley Central constituency are currently living in temporary accommodation; and what such figures were in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(2)  how many households with children in Barnsley Central constituency were accepted as homeless in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 16 May 2013
	The following tables show (i) the number of children living in temporary accommodation as at 31 December (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 and (ii) the number of households with children accepted as homeless in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.
	
		
			 Number of children in temporary accommodation—Barnsley 
			 As at end 31 December each year: Number 
			 2010 10 
			 2011 9 
			 2012 5 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of families with children accepted as being homeless—Barnsley 
			  Number 
			 2010-11 49 
			 2011-12 31 
			 2012-13 (April-December) 19 
			 Source: DCLG P1E Homelessness returns (quarterly) 
		
	
	Figures for children in temporary accommodation as at 31 March 2013 and families accepted as homeless during January to March 2013 will be published on 6 June.
	The Barnsley Central constituency falls wholly within the area of Barnsley council. The area of Barnsley council also includes parts of the parts of Penistone and Stocksbridge, Wentworth and Dearne, and Barnsley East constituencies.
	We are determined to tackle the problem of homeless families. Since 9 November 2012, local authorities have had new powers under the Localism Act to use good-quality private rented sector accommodation to end the main homelessness duty. Families will no longer need to always be placed in temporary accommodation while they wait for social housing to become available.
	At the same time, we have also put in place extra protection for the most vulnerable. The Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2012 will help prevent the use of temporary accommodation which is long distances from the families previous home and community.
	For households already in temporary accommodation the local authority has a duty (under section 193 of the Housing Act) to find that family settled accommodation. Local authorities should continue to work with these households to discuss alternative housing options as they become available.

Housing: Disability

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with Ministers in the devolved Administrations on best practice in provision of housing for individuals with disabilities;
	(2)  when he or Ministers in his Department last met representatives of people with disabilities to discuss housing provision.

Mark Prisk: Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are routinely published on my Department's website.
	Ministers within the Department for Communities and Local Government regularly engage with colleagues from the devolved Administrations and discuss a range of matters.
	My Department secured £725 million for the Disabled facilities Grant during the current spending review period (2011-12 to 2014-15). Over the last two years, the Government has provided a further £60 million for the grant, bringing the total over the spending Review period to £785 million.
	As part of last year's Social Care White Paper, the Government launched the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund, making up to £300 million available to support and accelerate the development of the specialised housing market for older and disabled adults.

Non-domestic Rates: Hartlepool

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will ensure that the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth, provides a formal response and actions to be taken following the meeting held on 26 February 2013 between himself, the hon. Member for Hartlepool and representatives from Hartlepool borough council in respect of business rates and the impact from Hartlepool nuclear power station.

Brandon Lewis: Since my meeting with the hon. Member for Hartlepool and Hartlepool borough council we have made regulations to introduce a safety net which effectively guarantees authorities 92.5% of their baseline funding under the rates retention scheme. This will provide support to authorities who experience a significant decline in business rates income, for example, as a result of unplanned outages at large power stations. We have also adjusted the starting position for local authorities so that they have extra financial head room to reflect the costs of future appeals losses. And we have established a new working group with local government to look at the implementation of the rates retention scheme.

Planning Permission

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria will be used to determine the proportion of the possible £7,000 a neighbourhood forum will receive towards their costs.

Nicholas Boles: Under the new Supporting Communities in Neighbourhood Planning programme, which opened for applications on 1 May 2013, communities undertaking neighbourhood planning can apply for grants of up to £7,000 per neighbourhood area, to contribute to costs incurred by the group in preparing a neighbourhood plan or order, as long as the group has a plan for how to spend it, and the costs cannot be met from other sources.
	Applications for a grant from eligible applicants will be assessed based on the information provided in the application form and against the following criteria:
	1. Is all the proposed expenditure eligible? (the total amount of grant awarded will be reduced for any items of ineligible expenditure)
	2. Is there a clear need for the project spend?
	3. Is there evidence of how the planned activities will help the group progress towards a neighbourhood plan for their area?
	4. Is the project realistic and achievable? Can the activities be delivered in the timetable given?
	5. Are the project costs reasonable and do they add up?
	6. Does the project demonstrate value for money in terms of the relationship between cost and benefit?
	Details, application forms and guidance can be found at:
	http://mycommunityrights.org.uk/neighbourhood-planning/
	Neighbourhood planning groups can also apply for direct support, and can receive both direct support and grant.

Planning Permission

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the total cost to a neighbourhood planning forum of drawing up and holding a referendum on a draft neighbourhood plan.

Nicholas Boles: Neighbourhood planning is a flexible tool designed to enable communities to make their own choices as to what issues they wish to address in their neighbourhood. As a consequence the costs of preparing Neighbourhood Plans will vary depending on the complexity and size of the proposal, and the available supporting evidence. We anticipate that the costs of neighbourhood planning will decrease as experience builds and there are more examples, templates and opportunities to share learning for communities doing neighbourhood planning. The impact assessment produced in 2012 discussed the potential costs of neighbourhood planning. It can be found at:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2012/9780111525050/pdfs/ukdsifia_9780111525050_en.pdf
	Neighbourhood planning forums will incur no cost for holding a neighbourhood planning referendum; these costs will be covered by the local authority. The Government has agreed that all new burdens placed on local authorities by central Government must be assessed and fully and properly funded. Local authorities can claim up to £30,000 per neighbourhood planning area to enable them to meet legislative duties on neighbourhood planning, including the cost of making arrangements for a referendum.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department.

Nicholas Boles: The Government introduced a One-In, One-Out system for regulations on 1 September 2010 applying to regulations from 1 January 2011, which was replaced by a One-In, Two-Out system on 1 January 2013. All measures that have a regulatory or deregulatory impact on business and civil society organisations are in scope of these systems. Regulations introduced by the Department, that are in scope of the One-In, One-Out or One-In, Two-Out system, are monitored in the Statements of New Regulation. These statements also collate cost information for each regulation. In addition, the statements include EU regulations and any Red Tape Challenge measures. The most recent Statement of New Regulation can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dclg-statement-of-new-regulation-1-january-to-30-june-2013
	The Red Tape Challenge is a cross-Government programme through which we review and improve our stock of regulation. The Department leads two Red Tape Challenge themes; one on Housing and Construction and one on Planning Administration. Through the Red Tape Challenge the Department's regulations within these themes are reviewed on the Red Tape Challenge website. Requests to keep, amend or revoke regulations are considered in the resulting proposals which are put to the Reducing Regulation Committee.

Social Rented Housing

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations he has received from social housing providers on the effect on their budgets of planned welfare reform changes and the risk of increased movements of tenants, non-payment of rent and number of voids. [R]

Mark Prisk: Ministers and officials from the Department for Communities and Local Government are in regular contact with social housing providers across a range of issues.
	My Department and the Department for Work and Pensions recognise the importance of protecting the budgets of social housing providers as our welfare reform changes are implemented. This is shown through our close working with a group of social landlords on the direct payment demonstration projects, which are testing the impact of the payment of housing benefit direct to tenants. A key aim of the demonstration projects is to explore how we can best protect social landlords, and tenants themselves, from the risk of increases in rent arrears. We intend to use the evidence gathered from the projects to inform the design of universal credit, including the safeguards needed to protect the financial position of social landlords and prevent tenants from falling into significant debt. We are also co-funding a learning network to capture the lessons from the demonstration projects, and encourage the sharing of best practice and information, to help social landlords prepare for direct payment.
	In addition, the removal of the spare room subsidy will be monitored and evaluated over a two year period from April this year, with initial findings available in 2014 and a final report in late 2015. Among other questions, the evaluation will consider the impact of the measure on landlords' finances, by means of small scale primary research with a range of social landlords.
	The 2012 Global Accounts of housing providers, published by the Homes and Communities Agency in March, show that tenant arrears have fallen in the last year and the overall financial performance of the sector has improved compared to the year before.

Alcoholic Drinks: Sales

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment her Department has made of the effect on businesses of the ban on multi-buy alcohol promotions in Scotland; and if she will make a statement.

Jeremy Browne: The Government recently consulted on whether to introduce a ban on multi-buy promotions in the off-trade. The Government is currently analysing all responses and available evidence and will publish a response to the consultation in due course.

Crime: Nature Conservation

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  with reference to the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice's adoption of a revised draft resolution on crime prevention and criminal justice responses to illicit trafficking in protected species of wild fauna and flora, reference E/CN.15/2013/L.20/Rev, whether the Government plans to support the resolution;
	(2)  with reference to the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice's adoption of a revised draft resolution on crime prevention and criminal justice responses to illicit trafficking in protected species of wild fauna and flora, reference E/CN.15/2013/L.20/Rev, what her policy is on the request to fully utilise the UN conventions against transnational organised crime and against corruption to prevent and combat illicit trafficking in wild fauna and flora, and to implement measures to prevent and combat illicit trafficking in wild fauna and flora, including the adoption of the necessary legislation for the prevention, investigation and prosecution of such trafficking;
	(3)  what role she expects the National Crime Agency's organised crime command to play in tackling wildlife crime following the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice's adoption of a revised draft resolution on crime prevention and criminal justice responses to illicit trafficking in protected species of wild fauna and flora, reference E/CN.15/2013/L.20/Rev.

Jeremy Browne: The UK supported E/CN.15/2013/L20/Rev, which was adopted on 26 April 2013.
	The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) referred to in E/CN.15/2013/L20/Rev were ratified by the UK in February 2006. The Government will consider how those respective conventions can be used as part of its ongoing approach to tackling the illicit trafficking in wild fauna and flora.
	The UK has already implemented tough measures to prevent and tackle illicit trafficking in wild fauna and flora. The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is currently one of the UK's wildlife crime priorities. The Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997 (COTES) provides a specific legal basis for prosecuting CITES offences, carrying a five year maximum sentence. CITES offences may also be prosecuted under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, which carries a seven year maximum sentence.
	Where wildlife crime is sufficiently serious, organised or complex, the National Crime Agency will ensure that partners across the law enforcement community benefit from its coordination, tasking and intelligence arrangements, as well as being able to access its specialist capabilities, as appropriate.

Crime: Nature Conservation

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which (a) agencies, (b) Government Departments and (c) groups her Department works with on tackling wildlife crime in the UK.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office works with a number of partners to tackle wildlife crime, including the national police leads for wildlife crime in England, Wales and Scotland, the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Environmental Agency.
	The Home Office is also part of the UK Tasking and Coordinating Group, which sets the UK’s wildlife crime priorities, and includes additional partners such as the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories, and a member of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) which brings together a wide range of non-government organisations with an interest in wildlife law enforcement, such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Crime: Nature Conservation

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the prevalence and threat of wildlife crime in the UK; and what steps her Department is taking to tackle it.

Jeremy Browne: Every six months, the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) produces a tactical assessment of wildlife crime in the UK. The tactical assessment is based upon scientific advice and intelligence from individual members of the UK Tasking and Coordinating Group (UK TCG) and police forces, and uses a risk-based approach to identify current, emerging and future threats. The tactical assessment is considered jointly by the Home Office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and other members of the UK TCG, and ultimately informs the priorities and activities of the UK TCG.

Entry Clearances: Sports Competitors

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions her Department has had with sporting bodies regarding the use of Tier 5 visas.

Mark Harper: Officials met the British Horse-Racing Authority on 2 May 2013 to discuss their endorsement criteria for Tier 5 overseas sports persons working in the horse racing sector. That was the most recent meeting, beyond day to day contact with the various sports governing bodies on routine matters.

G4S

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further discussions she has had with G4S on their suitability as a Government contractor.

James Brokenshire: The Home Department regularly reviews all contracts with G4S on a quarterly basis at Executive Oversight Board meetings which are attended by senior executives from G4S and senior officials from the Home Department.
	It also contributes regular updates on G4S to the Cabinet Office Supplier Relationship programme Crown representative.

Government Procurement Card

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the mean average spend using a government procurement card was per senior civil servant in (a) her Department, (b) the UK Border Agency and (c) the UK Border Force in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012.

Mark Harper: The information requested on average Government Procurement Card spend per senior civil servant, for the Home Department, UK Border Agency and UK Border Force, can be found in the following table:
	
		
			 GPC spend per senior civil servant 
			 £ 
			  2010 2011 2012 
			 HO 21 11 27 
			 UKBA 25 0 0 
			 UKBF n/a n/a 0

Illegal Immigrants

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people arrested in each of the last five years were found to be living in the UK illegally.

Mark Harper: holding answer 14 May 2013
	In terms of arrests made by the police, we do not hold this data; each force would need to be approached separately were we to want accurate figures from a police perspective. We work closely with the police to combat illegal immigration; for example, in London we have established Operation Nexus targeting immigration offenders in London.
	The Home Office makes arrests in the course of immigration enforcement visits where an individual is suspected of committing an immigration related offence.
	Data on the reason for arrests are only held at the level of coordinated paper case files or within the notes section of the Home Office's National Operations Database (NOD).
	Such data is not aggregated in national reporting systems, which would mean this question could be answered only through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.
	However, we can confirm that the Home Office arrested 42,340 for immigration related offences between April 2008 and March 2013. This includes arrests made during the course of immigration visits, and those people arrested by police and subsequently transferred to the Home Office.
	
		
			 Financial year Arrests for immigration related offences 
			 April 2008 to March 2009 9,557 
			 April 2009 to March 2010 7,429 
			 April 2010 to March 2011 7,731 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 7,879 
			 March 2012 to April 2013 9,744 
		
	
	All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

Training

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible enrolled in publicly-funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost has been of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year.

James Brokenshire: To provide this response would incur disproportionate cost to the Department.

Birds

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of changes in the number of ground-nesting birds.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA has not undertaken a specific assessment of changes in the number of ground-nesting birds. There are many types of bird that nest on the ground; these include wildfowl and waders, gamebirds, many seabirds and some song-birds associated with open habitats, such as skylarks and meadow pipits. These species vary in their habitat requirements, their ecology and the threats to which they are exposed.
	The UK Government publishes annual statistics on trends in wild bird populations for the UK and England. Combined trends are published for farmland, woodland, wetland and seabirds. Ground nesting species are included in the wetland bird trend and, to a lesser extent, in the seabird and farmland bird trends. These statistics are based on data from a range of sources, including the Breeding Bird Survey, which is undertaken by the British Trust for Ornithology with additional funding from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. These organisations also publish trends for individual species.

Light Bulbs: Waste Disposal

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of public awareness of appropriate disposal of compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA has made no assessment of public awareness of the appropriate disposal of compact fluorescent light bulbs.
	Low-energy light bulbs contain a small dose of mercury and should be disposed of responsibly. Recent legislation, which implements two EC directives on electrical and electronic equipment, limits the amount of mercury which such bulbs may contain and sets up a framework for disposing of them in an environmentally safe manner.
	The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2006 enable local authorities to work together with retailers of electrical and electronic equipment in their local areas to let householders know where they can deposit old equipment (including low-energy light bulbs) for treatment and recycling.
	These regulations require all distributors (retailers, mail-order companies and internet sellers) of low-energy light bulbs, referred to in the legislation as gas discharge lamps, to provide information to consumers and other users. This includes information on the requirement not to dispose of such bulbs as unsorted municipal waste, and on the return and collection systems available to them. Some retailers discharge this function by providing in-store take back of waste compact fluorescent light bulbs.
	The 2006 WEEE Regulations also place a responsibility on producers to mark low-energy light bulbs with the crossed-out wheeled bin symbol, and to finance their collection, treatment, recovery and recycling when deposited at designated collection facilities or returned to designated distributors by householders.
	As waste is a devolved matter, this response relates only to England.

Training

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible enrolled in publicly-funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost has been of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year.

Michael Penning: Following the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, and subsequent reconfiguration of the Northern Ireland Office, my Department does not hold figures for the periods prior to 2010; attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
	For the three years since devolution the figures are as follows:
	
		
			  Number of staff attending Total cost (£) 
			 2010-11 (1)— 20,014 
			 2011-12 41 14,305 
			 2012-13 85 19,911 
			 (1) Not held. 
		
	
	The 10 highest training course fees for each year were:
	2010-11
	1. £16,584—Departmental contribution to National School for Government Core Learning programme
	2. £1,025—Open University degree course
	3. £1,000—Introduction to Information Assurance
	4. £440—Custodian course
	5. £400—Management coaching and mentoring course.
	It is not possible to provide other individual course costs for 2010-11 as these were covered by our contribution to the Core Learning Programme which meant that courses provided by NSG were free.
	2011-12
	1. £1,989—Records and Information Management
	2. £1,775—Information Assurance
	3. £1,760—Prince2 Practitioners
	4. £1,350—Prince2 Foundation
	5. £1,350—Prince2 Practitioner
	6. £1,210—Parliamentary Government and the Civil Service
	7. £1,020—Personal Effectiveness
	8. £894—Financial Training
	9. £740—Finance for Non-Finance Managers
	10. £480—Public Accountability and Governance for the Senior Civil Service.
	2012-13
	1. £3,858—Leading with Purpose
	2. £3,858—Leading with Purpose
	3. £1,518—Centre for Applied Learning, courses attended November 2012
	4. £1,086—Centre for Applied Learning, courses attended December 2012
	5. £1,074—Prince2 Training Course
	6. £416—Bill Team Training
	7. £395—Centre for Applied Learning, courses attended June 2012
	8. £256—Developing your Leadership Style
	9. £252—Achieving More with Less
	10. £236—Briefings and Submissions.
	My Department has two non-departmental public bodies—the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and one advisory non-departmental public body—the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. As such bodies are independent of Government, my hon. Friend may wish to write to the Commissions direct on these matters. Contact details are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 ALB Status Contact details 
			 Parades Commission for Northern Ireland Executive NDPB Info@paradescommission.org 
			 Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Executive NDPB information@nihrc.org 
			 Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland Advisory NDPB bcni@belfast.org.uk

Banks

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to make the operation of banks more transparent; and if he has considered requiring banks to make public details of (a) the source from which they take savings and (b) the postcodes in which they lend.

Greg Clark: The Government is already taking forward a number of measures to make the operations of banks more transparent.
	Specifically, the Government is working with the industry—through the British Bankers Association (BBA) and other interested parties—to secure a commitment from the banks that they will publish postcode level lending data broken down by institution. If it is not possible to reach a satisfactory industry-led agreement the Government will introduce amendments to the Banking Reform Bill to ensure that the data is published.

Financial Services: Taxation

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with his European counterpart on the financial transaction tax.

Greg Clark: The European Commission’s proposal for a financial transaction tax under the enhanced co-operation procedure continues to be frequently raised in discussions between the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), and his European counterparts.

Green Investment Bank

Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department has paid into the Green Investment Bank to date.

Sajid Javid: The Government has committed to provide £3 billion funding for the Green Investment Bank.

Poverty: Children

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the Institute for Fiscal Studies' report on the projected increase in childhood poverty in the UK up to 2020.

Sajid Javid: The Institute for Fiscal Studies' projections are based on a narrow measure of child poverty. The focus on this measure has resulted in policies that use benefits and tax credits to change income at the margin; it does not capture the full impact of government spending on low to middle income households, including the value of education and health services which have a real positive impact on children's life chances.
	The Government has sought a wide range of views as part of a consultation on better measures of child poverty, which include income but also wider measures to tackle the root causes of poverty including worklessness, educational failure and family breakdown. The consultation has now closed and the Government will respond in the summer.

Tax Allowances: Video Games

Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to defend the competitiveness of the UK video game industry in respect of the European Commission scrutiny of tax relief for video games investment in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: The Government is committed to bringing in the video games tax relief at the earliest opportunity.
	The process for, and duration of, the Commission’s investigation are determined by the Commission itself.
	Nevertheless, the Government is working closely with industry to provide the Commission with the evidence it needs to conclude its investigation as quickly as possible.

Tax Evasion

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken since May 2010 to combat tax evasion by UK registered companies; what resources have been committed to each such initiative; and how many (a) HM Treasury and (b) HM Revenue and Customs' personnel respectively are currently employed on tackling tax evasion.

David Gauke: The Government has been robust in its response to tax evasion taking action to prevent detect and tackle such behaviour. We have underlined our commitment to tackling non-compliance in those areas by investing over £900 million in HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over the Spending Review 2010 period. That will allow HMRC to better tackle evasion, criminal attacks, unpaid tax debt and avoidance.
	On 3 December 2012, in Autumn Statement, the Government announced we will provide an additional £77 million in additional funding to expand HMRC's anti-avoidance and evasion work. This investment will focus on evasion and avoidance by wealthy individuals and multinationals. It will cover the current Spending Review period, which finishes at the end of March 2015.
	HMRC will therefore now aim to raise total additional revenues of £22 billion a year by the end of 2014-15. This is £9 billion more than it would have been without this Government's near £1 billion investment.
	HMRC are responsible for the operation of the tax system and lead the work on tackling evasion. HM Treasury (HMT), supported by HMRC, leads on strategic work and policy development. HMT and HMRC together develop policy across a range of HMT business areas and tackling evasion and avoidance is an integral part of policy development. Therefore the HMT and HMRC resource in this area can be disaggregated only at disproportionate cost.
	HMRC tackles a wide range of behaviour involving non-compliance with the tax system, including tax evasion, error, tax avoidance, fraud and criminal attack. HMRC works on a risk basis, and HMRC compliance officers and investigators may work on cases involving several behaviours and risks at any time.
	Within HMRC compliance and investigation work is primarily carried out by staff in the Enforcement and Compliance line of business. All staff in Enforcement and Compliance support the fight against evasion either directly or indirectly. The number of staff, as at 2012-13, currently employed (full-time equivalent) by Enforcement and Compliance is 26,601.

Training

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible enrolled in publicly-funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost has been of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year.

Sajid Javid: Information on total cost of publicly funded training courses for HM Treasury and its executive agencies is follows:
	
		
			 £ 
			 Financial year HM Treasury training costs Total costs(1) 
			 2008-09 2,282,714 2,695,428 
			 2009-10 2,369,560 2,924,727 
			 2010-11 2,274,560 2,399,562 
			 2011-12 808,608 1,017,710 
			 2012-13 656,790 772,795 
			 (1) Includes Debt Management Office (all years), Office of Government Commerce (2008-10), Asset Protection Agency (2010 to October 2012), UK Financial Investments Limited (2011-13), and Office and Budget Responsibility (2011-13). 
		
	
	No central records are held relating to how many officials enrolled in publicly-funded training courses, or the monetary value of the 10 highest training course fees, and information could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost. Groups have delegated training budgets that are used for the provision of external training and all training requests are subject to line manager approval. In addition, training across the civil service is now mostly delivered through Civil Service Learning, which oversees the purchase of training across Government ensuring best value and reducing costs through collaborative purchasing.

Civil Servants: Business Interests

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidance his Department issues to Government departments regarding the employment of outgoing civil servants by private employers with whom their former Department has a contractual relationship.

Francis Maude: The Business Appointment Rules which apply after leaving office, can be accessed at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/resources/civil-service-management-code

Training

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible enrolled in publicly-funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost has been of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year.

Francis Maude: My Department does not hold information centrally on the full cost of training.

British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has been invited to attend the British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association Conference in Coventry from 24 to 26 May 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: There is no record of the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), having received an invitation to the British Nuclear Test Veterans conference.

Bus Services: Fares

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consider the merits of introducing a statutory definition of an adult fare on all bus services.

Norman Baker: The Government appreciates that the fares offer for young people using buses varies significantly across the country, and that greater consistency would be fairer and could make bus travel more attractive.
	The majority of bus operators already operate some form of discount for young people, and I have encouraged them to continue improving their offers.

Bus Services: Tickets

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent progress he has made on introducing smart ticketing for all bus services for young people; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The coalition Government has recently announced two smart ticketing initiatives: the Smart Cities Partnerships and the Managed Service Pilot. In these, we are working closely with local authorities and operators to increase smart ticketing coverage. We also pay a smartcard incentive component in Bus Service Operator Grant (BSOG) to encourage operators to install smart ticketing. Over 50% of commercially operated buses in England outside London are now smart-equipped, and the number continues to rise. The types of tickets offered using smart ticketing technology is a matter for bus operators and local authorities to decide.

Cycling

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the Government to issue a cross-departmental cycling action plan; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The coalition has a commitment to support sustainable travel, including cycling. The “Creating Growth, Cutting Carbon” White Paper and the Department for Transport’s Door to Door Strategy set out actions and funding to deliver on this commitment.
	The Government also welcomes the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group (APPCG) inquiry and report. We are currently looking at the recommendations carefully and will respond in due course.
	In addition, the Department for Transport has been co-ordinating a cross-departmental effort to promote cycling, in particular with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Health. We now plan to take this further by establishing a project team involving more Departments.

Railways: Electrification

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of rail track will have been electrified by 2015; and what timetable he has set for rail electrification projects.

Simon Burns: The Government has committed to 850 miles of electrification by 2019 and by 2015 expects Network Rail to have made significant progress on the electrification of the Great Western, Trans Pennine, North West England, Cardiff Valley Lines, Midland Main Line and East West Rail routes ready for the phased introduction of electric services by 2019. As a minimum 50 miles will be complete by 2015 which will facilitate new electric services over a much wider part of the network including between Liverpool and Manchester and between Manchester Airport and Scotland. This calculation excludes the test site that will be provided for new IEP trains between Reading and Didcot by 2015.

Railways: Oxfordshire

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent progress has been made on the construction of the Oxford to Bicester rail improvement scheme.

Simon Burns: Chiltern Railways and Network Rail are working together on the delivery of the Oxford to Bicester route as part of the larger East West Rail Project, which extends from Oxford to Bletchley and Bedford. Recent progress includes the granting of Transport and Works Act construction powers for the Oxford to Bicester work (appeal currently under way), and design and survey work to integrate Chiitern's Evergreen 3 scheme with the wider East West Rail plans. Major work on the route is anticipated to begin later in 2013.

Railways: Tickets

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on smart rail ticketing in London and the South East; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: Two train operators in the South East already have smart ticketing infrastructure in place, and are running small scale pilots with passengers, as a result of obligations contained within their franchise agreements.
	The South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme commits £45 million to a wider roll out of smart ticketing on rail in the South East. My officials have been working with train operators and Transport for London to agree the details of the scheme and how it will work for passengers. There are several technical and commercial issues to be addressed, but good progress has been made, and under current plans smart ticketing should be available to passengers in the South East before March 2015.

Roads: Lighting

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many streetlights, which had been switched off by a local authority, have been turned back on following (a) a coroner's report and (b) resident pressure in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the effect of turning off streetlights on increasing the fear of crime;
	(3)  what recent assessment he has made of the effects of turning off streetlights on the emergency services;
	(4)  what recent assessment he has made of the effect of streetlights on social activities;
	(5)  whether he has an Invest to Save strategy for streetlights;

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport does not hold information on how many street lights switched off by a local authority have been turned back on following (a)a coroner's report or (b) resident pressure.
	It is for each local highway authority responsible for street lighting in their area to decide the level of service they wish their street lighting network to deliver. No assessment has been made by the Department for Transport on the effects of turning off street lights and the fear of crime, on emergency services or on social activities.
	It is important that local authorities consider the safety, cost and environmental savings before switching off lighting columns, reducing the hours of operation or dimming lighting levels within their areas.
	This Government is providing over £3 billion from 2011 to 2015 to highway authorities in England for highways maintenance, including street lighting. If a local highway authority is considering upgrading or improving their street lighting stock, the Department for Transport encourages them to consider the "Invest to Save" Guidance produced by the Association of Directors of Environment, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) which is available from the Institution of Lighting Professionals:
	www.theilp.org.uk

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what extra financial help his Department is making available to local authorities to help clear potholes.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport announced on 18 December 2012 that it was allocating a further £140 million in 2013-14 and £75 million in 2014-15 to local highway authorities in England, including Transport for London, for highways maintenance which could include repairing pothole damage.
	In addition, and in recognition of the damage caused by the severe winter weather of 2010-11, in March 2011 the Department for Transport allocated an additional £200 million to local authorities in England, including London authorities.
	The Government also recognises the need for improved highways maintenance over the longer-term and has taken action. In April 2011 we announced a £6 million programme for Highways Maintenance Efficiency to look at longer-term maintenance strategies. This programme is providing practical and adaptable efficiency solutions, for authorities to make informed local investment decisions to support their local community and economy. As part of the Programme, an initiative was announced to help assist local authorities deal with potholes on the local highway network. A final report has been and is available for download from the following web address:
	http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/pothole-review/pothole-review.pdf

Training

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible enrolled in publicly-funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost has been of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport is committed to investing in its staff and ensuring people have the skills they need to perform their job effectively. We actively encourage staff to take five days training a year through initiatives including the Civil Service's Campaign for Learning programme.
	The Department does not centrally record the number of officials who have taken training courses: to provide this information, along with the ten highest training course fees, would incur disproportionate costs.
	The Department spent the following amounts on training in each of the last three years:
	
		
			  Amount spent on training (£) 
			 2009-10 4,475,000 
			 2010-11 6,653,000 
			 2011-12 3,433,400 
		
	
	The information for the previous two years is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in his Department are employed on zero hours contracts.

Mark Hoban: I can confirm that there are no people employed by the Department for Work and Pensions on a zero-hour contract.

Fuel Poverty

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent progress he has made on reducing fuel poverty.

Gregory Barker: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
	This Government is strongly committed to helping households, especially low income and vulnerable households, heat their homes at an affordable cost.
	On 16 May 2013, the latest official statistics were published. They show that the number of households in fuel poverty in 2011 was lower than in 2010, as measured under both the 10% indicator and the low income high costs (LIHC) indicator proposed by Professor John Hills in his independent review of fuel poverty. The statistics also reveal an increase in the fuel poverty gap in 2011 compared to 2010. The full statistics are available at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/fuel-poverty-report-annual-report-on-statistics-2013

State Retirement Pensions

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will publish an updated version of his Department's paper, State Pension entitlements derived from a current or former spouse's or civil partner's national insurance contributions to take into account the changed introduction date of the single-tier state pension.

Steve Webb: The Department has no plans to update this document. This is because the principles and mechanics of this aspect of the single-tier reforms have remained unchanged following the announcement that the single-tier pension will be implemented in 2016. Reference to the implementation date should be understood as ‘April 2016’, and not ‘April 2017 at the earliest’. This is made clear on the Gov.uk website.
	The assertion that approximately 8,000 women will benefit from the reduced rate election transitional protection measures would not change substantially with a 2016 start date.

Statistics

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions his Department has been rebuked by the Chair of the UK Statistics Authority for misusing statistics since May 2010.

Mark Hoban: Correspondence between the UK Statistics Authority and the Department for Work and Pensions is published on the authority's website:
	http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/reports---correspondence/correspondence

Statistics

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the letter sent to him from the Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, dated 9 May 2013, whether he plans any changes to his Department's procedures in response.

Mark Hoban: DWPs Permanent Secretary wrote to the UK Statistics Authority on 14 May 2013, addressing the issues raised in Mr Dilnot's letter of 9 May 2013. This correspondence is available on the Authority's website:
	http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/reports---correspondence/correspondence

Unemployment: Young People

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the International Labour Organisation report published on 8 May 2013 on the societal implications of the failure to increase work opportunities for young people.

Mark Hoban: The International Labour Organization (ILO) makes a valuable contribution to sharing information and best practice from around the world and we welcome its report, “Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013”. We will consider the report and will continue to engage with the ILO on employment issues, including at the forthcoming G20 Labour and Employment Ministers meeting.
	There are no specific references to the UK in the report; however, the labour market for young people in the UK is showing signs of improvement. The ILO measure of 16-24 unemployment is down 57,000 over the past year, and the number of young people claiming jobseeker’s allowance has fallen for the eleventh consecutive month.

Broadmoor Hospital

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of whether the number of beds proposed under the redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital is consistent with (a) reductions in the length of stay in high secure hospitals over the last 10 years and (b) the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention programme;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to evaluate alternative proposals to the redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital to meet future needs of the High Secure Service.

Norman Lamb: National health service commissioners undertook a capacity review in 2009. Since then the Offender Personality Disorder Strategy has been implemented, reconfiguring services so that increased numbers of high harm offenders with personality disorder are treated within the prison system.
	This year NHS England is required by The High Security Psychiatric Services (National Health Service Commissioning Board) Directions 2013 to undertake an assessment of the needs of the people of England for high secure psychiatric services and the availability of services to meet those needs.
	The Capacity Review undertaken in 2009 considered a number of factors including length of stay. The National High Secure Services Strategic Commissioning Plan (2010 to 2015) set out how high secure services, including the proposed redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital, would contribute to the NHS Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention programme by improving quality and achieving sustainable efficiency.
	NHS England has responsibility for arranging the provision of high security psychiatric services in England. It will evaluate alternative proposals to meet future needs as part of that responsibility.

Broadmoor Hospital

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the reasons are for the length of time taken to develop the business case for the redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital;
	(2)  on what date the process to develop a business case for the redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital began;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the business case for the redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital.

Norman Lamb: The redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital has followed the Department's process for the development and approval of major capital build schemes of this size and complexity to ensure it demonstrates affordability and has commissioner support in order deliver care in a modern, safe and secure environment for patients and staff.
	West London Mental Health National Health Service Trust began work developing the strategic outline case for the redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital in 2004.
	The strategic outline case was approved by London strategic health authority in November 2005.
	While the Trust was developing the business case, work was undertaken to agree the size of high secure hospital sector and commissioned bed numbers, and to confirm service requirements at Broadmoor.
	As a result, the Trust submitted the outline business case (OBC) to the Department in 2010. Due to a number of site-specific issues around ecology and the listed buildings, the Trust was required to apply for full planning permission before OBC approval could be given. This required the Trust to undertake further detailed work, which resulted in full planning permission being given in March 2012. Following this, the OBC was approved by the Department and HM Treasury in June 2012.
	The full business case for the £286 million redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital was approved by NHS London strategic health authority in January 2013 and is currently being reviewed by the Department to assess the scheme's affordability to the Trust, and it will need approval by HM Treasury before a final approval decision can be made. The Department would expect to be able to make an approval decision shortly.

Broadmoor Hospital

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reasons are for the length of time it has taken to develop a business case for the redevelopment of Broadmoor hospital.

Norman Lamb: The redevelopment of Broadmoor hospital has followed the Department’s process for the development and approval of major capital build schemes of this size and complexity to ensure it demonstrates affordability and has commissioner support in order to deliver care in a modern, safe and secure environment for patients and staff.
	West London Mental Health National Health Service Trust began work developing the strategic outline case for the redevelopment of Broadmoor hospital in 2004. The strategic outline case was approved by London strategic health authority in November 2005.
	While the trust was developing the business case, work was undertaken to agree the size of high secure hospital sector and commissioned bed numbers, and to confirm service requirements at Broadmoor.
	As a result, the trust submitted the outline business case (OBC) to the Department in 2010. Due to a number of site-specific issues around ecology and the listed buildings, the trust was required to apply for full planning permission before OBC approval could be given. This required the trust to undertake further detailed work, which resulted in full planning permission being given in March 2012. Following this, the OBC was approved by the Department and HM Treasury in June 2012.
	The full business case for the £286 million redevelopment of Broadmoor hospital was approved by NHS London strategic health authority in January 2013 and is currently being reviewed by the Department to assess the scheme’s affordability to the trust, and it will need approval by HM Treasury before a final approval decision can be made. The Department would expect to be able to make an approval decision shortly.

Broadmoor Hospital

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of whether the number of beds proposed under the redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital is consistent with (a) reductions in lengths of stay in high secure hospitals over the last 10 years and (b) the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention Agenda.

Anna Soubry: National health service commissioners undertook a capacity review of the high secure estate, Ashworth, Broadmoor and Rampton hospitals, in 2009. Since then the Offender Personality Disorder Strategy has been implemented, reconfiguring services so that increased numbers of high harm offenders with personality disorder are treated within the prison system.
	This year NHS England is required by the High Security Psychiatric Services (National Health Service Commissioning Board) Directions 2013 to undertake an assessment of the needs of the people of England for high secure psychiatric services and the availability of services to meet those needs.
	The capacity review considered a number of factors including length of stay. The National High Secure Services Strategic Commissioning Plan (2010-15), published in 2011, set out how high secure services, including the proposed redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital, would contribute to the NHS Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) programme by improving quality and achieving sustainable efficiency.

Broadmoor Hospital

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to evaluate alternative proposals to the redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital to meet the need for a highly secure service.

Anna Soubry: NHS England has responsibility for arranging the provision of high security psychiatric services in England. It will evaluate alternative ways to meet future needs as part of that responsibility.

Clothing

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible have made a claim for evening dress allowance in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of such claims has been.

Daniel Poulter: The Department's Travel and Expenses Policy does not explicitly cover claims for evening dress allowances. Consequently, the Department does not hold records of claims made for evening dress allowances.
	The six non-departmental public bodies that were in existence at 31 March 2013 have informed us that no official has made a claim for evening dress allowance in each of the last five financial, years.

Dental Services

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that those needing NHS dentistry do not resort to home remedies.

Daniel Poulter: There should be no need for anyone to resort to home remedies for dental problems rather than seeking national health service care. NHS England has a legal duty to commission dental services to meet local need. Anyone seeking urgent care who cannot find an NHS dentist should contact the relevant NHS local area team. The new NHS 111 service is also able to signpost patients to urgent dental services.
	As well as ensuring those who need it can get urgent care, the Government is committed to ensuring those who seek it can access regular dental care. More than 29.8 million people were seen by an NHS dentist in the 24 month period ending 31 March 2013. Over a million and a quarter more people have been seen by an NHS dentist since May 2010, and the latest information published on 16 May 2013 shows a further rise. The Government is committed to increasing access to NHS dentistry and recently invested an additional £30 million of in-year funding in order to achieve this.

Diabetes

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on the treatment of diabetes in (a) Hounslow, (b) London and (c) England in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11, (iii) 2011-12 and (iv) 2012-13.

Anna Soubry: Programme budgeting data provides an estimate of national health service expenditure on diabetes. The programme budgeting data collection requires primary care trusts (PCTs) to analyse their expenditure by specific health care conditions. Diabetes is treated within the programme budgeting framework as a sub-category within the main category ‘Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Problems’.
	The programme budgeting data collection is complex, therefore when considering the information relating to the treatment of diabetes it is important to note that figures are best estimates rather than precise measurements. Due to the following complexities, not all expenditure on the treatment of diabetes will have been captured in the diabetes category:
	Some primary care activity cannot be reasonably estimated at disease specific level so primary care expenditure is separately identified as a sub-category of 'other' expenditure, programme category 23A. Therefore, the diabetes expenditure total will not include all expenditure relating to diabetes in primary care.
	Expenditure is allocated to programme budgeting categories, based on the primary health care condition of the patient. Therefore, the diabetes expenditure total will not include expenditure on patients with diabetes who have other conditions which were identified as the primary reason for treatment.
	When it is not possible to reasonably estimate a programme budget category, expenditure is classified as 'Other—Miscellaneous', so some expenditure on patients with diabetes may be included in the 'Other—Miscellaneous' sub-category. The allocation of expenditure to programme budgeting sub-categories is not always straight forward, and some expenditure on patients with diabetes may be included within the 'Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Problems—Other' sub-category.
	The following table includes estimated expenditure on diabetes for Hounslow, London and England for the years 2009-10 to 2011-12. Programme budgeting data for 2012-13 has not yet been collected.
	Programme budgeting data cannot be used to analyse changes in investment in specific service areas between years. In order to improve the quality of the data, the calculation methodology is continually refined, as are the underlying data sources which support programme budgeting.
	
		
			 Estimated expenditure on diabetes 
			 £000 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Hounslow(1) 4,280 5,881 6,686 
			 London(2) 192,628 247,004 258,595 
			 England(3) 1,271,069 1,462,468 1,545,739 
			 (1) Figures for Hounslow are based on the Hounslow PCT return. (2 )Figures for London are based the total estimated expenditure of all PCTs within NHS London Strategic Health Authority for this sub-category. (3) Figures for England are based on the aggregate of all PCT estimated expenditure for this sub-category. Source: Annual PCT programme budgeting returns.

Eating Disorders: Young People

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to promote positive body image amongst young people.

Norman Lamb: We recognise that poor body image is a common problem not only for young people but, according to the findings of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image, more than half of the population. It is a factor in eating disorders and other mental health problems.
	Half of all people with lifelong mental health problems, not including dementia, develop them by the time they are fourteen, and early intervention is necessary to prevent the mental health problems of young people from becoming lifelong problems. That is why the Department is funding the Children and Young People's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies project, which is transforming Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services providing training for staff in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved best evidence-based therapies and embedding intensive, session by session outcome monitoring to make sure children and young people have improved access to the best possible psychological therapies in a way they find acceptable and relevant.
	In year one, 2011-12, the therapies offered were cognitive behavioural therapy and parenting programmes for three to 10-year-olds. In 2012-13 two further therapies were added, systemic family therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy. Together these will help support children, young people and their families and address some of the major mental health problems of adolescence, including eating disorders.
	We are also developing a suite of interactive e-learning programmes to extend the skills and knowledge of all staff working with children and young people, including health professionals, teachers, social workers and others to help them understand and recognise emotional and mental health problems and offer early and effective interventions. These interventions in support of children's mental health will, of course, help support the valuable work of the Body Image Campaign led by the Government Equalities Office and the Department of Culture Media and Sport.

Human Papillomavirus: Sussex

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on when all women in (a) Mid Sussex and (b) West Sussex attending for their cervical screen will be tested for HPV as a triage and test-of-cure;
	(2)  when he envisages that women in (a) Mid Sussex and (b) West Sussex will benefit from HPV testing as a primary screen.

Anna Soubry: NHS Cancer Screening Programmes gave approval for human papilloma virus (HPV) testing to begin across Sussex and East Surrey (which covers Mid and West Sussex) in early July 2012, and testing commenced on 25 July 2012. In year one of implementation, HPV testing for triage was done on the first occurrence of low grade abnormalities in eligible women routinely invited for screening (women aged 25 to 64), along with HPV test-of-cure for newly treated women with normal or low grade abnormalities six months after treatment. In year two, from July 2013, HPV testing as triage will be extended to all women with low grade abnormalities, and HPV test-of-cure extended to all women treated for abnormalities who have normal or low grade abnormalities six months after treatment.
	The pilot of HPV testing as primary screening began in May 2013 at two of the six pilot sites. None of the six pilot sites covers the Mid and West Sussex areas. The pilot will be formally evaluated and, based on the results of the evaluation, HPV testing as primary screening will be rolled out across England. Timetables for this roll-out will be determined once we have the results of the evaluation.

Training

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible enrolled in publicly-funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost has been of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not centrally hold all of the information requested.
	The Department provides publicly funded training to its officials via a central corporate training and development budget and also via its directorate's local training budgets. Extracting the information required from these local budgets would incur disproportionate costs.
	Therefore data has only been provided for the corporately funded training only and does not reflect the total Department expenditure on all training and development for its officials.
	The number of officials attending corporately funded training in 2012-13 was 2,151 and 2011-12 it was 1,230. Details of numbers attending prior to 2011-12 were not recorded centrally.
	The total spend for corporately funded training only, over the last five years is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Costs (£) 
			 2012-13 578,928 
			 2011-12 347,139 
			 2010-11 1,352,501 
			 2009-10 1,801,041 
			 2008-09 1,926,563 
		
	
	Data on the 10 highest value training courses over the last five years is not available centrally and to extract the data would incur disproportionate costs.
	The Department does not hold centrally information about its non-departmental public bodies publicly-funded training courses. Consequently data was sought from the individual bodies and the information provided has been placed in the Library.

Travel

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible claimed reimbursement for travel subsistence expenses in each of the last five years; what the total cost was of such claims; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest subsistence claims in each such year.

Daniel Poulter: The answer is restricted to those bodies that were executive non-departmental public bodies (ENDPBs) for the periods in question and are still in existence as an ENDPB, or as part of another body.
	(a)Department of Health
	
		
			  Number of officials Amount of travel subsistence reimbursed (£) 
			 2012-13 888 182,859.68 
			 2011-12 911 166,321.37 
			 2010-11 1,419 263,205.80 
			 2009-10 1,305 344,511.94 
			 2008-09 1,254 362,146.50 
		
	
	The monetary value of the 20 highest subsistence claims is shown in the following table. This includes subsistence for overseas travel which is also used to pay for hotel costs.
	Individual claims can range from one journey up to multiple journeys over a period of three months.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2012-13 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 
			 1 2,156.00 2,840.88 2,063.00 5,695.90 4,648.17 
			 2 2,003.74 1,526.38 1,912.50 5,425.50 2,287.91 
			 3 1,943.00 1,450.69 1,908.05 1,775.39 2,116.00 
			 4 1,641.85 1,253.01 1,811.40 1,664.00 1,947.54 
			 5 1,499.16 1,001.25 1,716.38 1,480.93 1,947.00 
			 6 1,325.41 1,000.00 1,697.64 1,356.93 1,811.43 
			 7 1,298.61 994.00 1,351.72 1,343.13 1,541.50 
			 8 1,172.19 958.00 1,347.50 1,275.00 1,538.80 
			 9 913.21 889.03 1,298.28 1,257.26 1,496.24 
		
	
	
		
			 10 887.18 810.86 1,236.00 1,234.80 1,282.28 
			 11 832.00 796.81 1,207.00 1,207.74 1,269.18 
			 12 812.57 787.50 1,175.10 1,034.48 1,261.60 
			 13 797.03 764.64 1,152.24 1,031.60 1,231.48 
			 14 766.08 752.94 1,127.75 1,030.99 1,226.00 
			 15 761.00 726.11 1,043.00 1,019.80 1,225.00 
			 16 756.89 650.01 1,040.00 1,019.74 1,177.00 
			 17 755.13 640.14 1,035.00 1,011.20 1,177.00 
			 18 735.14 613.42 1,030.00 1,009.57 1,161.16 
			 19 732.33 600.19 861.00 995.97 1,070.16 
			 20 732.33 600.17 857.40 989.78 1,038.44 
		
	
	(b) Non-departmental public bodies
	Health Protection Agency (HPA)—Part of Public Health England from 1 April 2013
	
		
			  Number of officials Amount of travel subsistence reimbursed (£) 
			 2012-13 1,249 190,310.00 
			 2011-12 1,212 245,515.00 
			 2010-11 1,308 204,963.00 
			 2009-10 1,503 227,171.00 
			 2008-09 n/a n/a 
		
	
	The monetary value of the 20 highest subsistence claims for the HPA is shown in the following table. Data for the financial year 2008-09 is not included as the details are held in an archived expenses system and to retrieve the information would be at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2012-13 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 
			 1 602.25 887.73 963.27 533.66 n/a 
			 2 581.13 744.26 785.20 512.27 n/a 
			 3 550.00 586.47 777.87 473.90 n/a 
			 4 548.99 515.83 689.12 473.90 n/a 
			 5 543.00 499.52 688.00 473.90 n/a 
			 6 486.03 481.32 655.27 473.83 n/a 
			 7 470.03 473.77 609.63 426.00 n/a 
			 8 470.03 465.94 595.01 410.81 n/a 
			 9 453.71 452.16 488.66 407.00 n/a 
			 10 446.22 435.00 477.72 407.00 n/a 
			 11 435.80 425.60 475.00 406.07 n/a 
			 12 427.04 424.70 423.32 399.98 n/a 
			 13 425.02 415.27 423.00 398.55 n/a 
			 14 425.05 407.93 420.00 398.55 n/a 
			 15 422.63 402.12 414.00 393.24 n/a 
			 16 414.62 385.00 412.23 387.12 n/a 
			 17 412.84 367.10 407.93 387.12 n/a 
			 18 408.42 356.13 394.62 375.90 n/a 
			 19 407.00 355.00 393.76 374.99 n/a 
			 20 395.25 348.00 388.40 373.44 n/a 
		
	
	NHS England
	
		
			  Number of officials Amount of travel subsistence reimbursed (£) 
			 2012-13 21 5,188.39 
			 2011-12 n/a n/a 
			 2010-11 n/a n/a 
			 2009-10 n/a n/a 
		
	
	
		
			 2008-09 n/a n/a 
		
	
	The monetary value of the 20 highest subsistence claims for NHS England is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 £ 
			  2012-13 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 
			 1 295.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2 266.03 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 3 240.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 4 205.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 5 205.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 6 205.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 7 190.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 8 180.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 9 180.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 10 170.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 11 165.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 12 165.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 13 160.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 14 160.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 15 150.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 16 130.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 17 130.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 18 130.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 19 120.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 20 115.00 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	Human Tissue Authority (HTA)
	
		
			  Number of officials Amount of travel subsistence reimbursed (£) 
			 2012-13 52 26,437.00 
			 2011-12 54 27,027.00 
			 2010-11 64 32,307.00 
			 2009-10 57 44,854.00 
			 2008-09 50 48,770.00 
		
	
	The monetary value of the 20 highest subsistence claims for the HTA is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 £ 
			  2012-13 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 
			 1 661.62 595.68 560.92 1,246.36 2,247.63 
			 2 642.22 594.08 479.89 1,163.38 2,186.23 
			 3 547.22 581.30 469.39 1,108.80 1,394.55 
			 4 511.08 558.18 469.39 861.14 1,392.52 
			 5 390.00 518.28 466.49 792.00 1,273.59 
			 6 355.94 509.08 464.89 633.60 1,200.40 
			 7 335.78 505.08 454.89 633.60 1,177.52 
			 8 300.52 391.49 452.89 633.60 1,108.46 
			 9 297.81 352.52 452.89 612.88 767.95 
			 10 291.62 335.75 450.39 529.83 761.38 
			 11 286.18 328.65 450.30 450.04 715.35 
			 12 282.55 301.75 446.49 430.57 659.66 
			 13 271.10 279.40 433.89 429.99 642.00 
			 14 257.43 274.04 425.74 427.00 525.50 
			 15 256.57 262.20 421.00 426.29 518.28 
			 16 255.50 258.25 387.00 423.79 518.88 
			 17 252.00 244.90 356.54 415.96 497.75 
			 18 242.84 243.45 318.75 414.79 464.55 
			 19 234.49 242.65 291.32 401.29 439.65 
		
	
	
		
			 20 234.10 230.76 281.80 397.29 408.10 
		
	
	Monitor
	
		
			  Number of claims(1) Amount of travel subsistence reimbursed (£) 
			 2012-13 325 5,519.08 
			 2011-12 416 4,628.08 
			 2010-11 324 3,347.16 
			 2009-10 n/a 4,962.12 
			 2008-09 n/a 2,922.22 
			 (1) Some officials will have claimed multiple times, and others not at all, so in terms of numbers of people claiming subsistence this would involve interrogating each individual expense claim or designing a bespoke report and could be done only at disproportionate cost. 
		
	
	The monetary value of the 20 highest subsistence claims for Monitor is shown in the following table. Top 20 data for the financial years 2008-09 and 2009-10 are not included as the details are held in an archived accounting system and to retrieve the information would be at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2012-13 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 
			 1 127.05 120.00 135.56 n/a n/a 
			 2 123.83 115.00 97.93 n/a n/a 
			 3 104.08 95.40 90.00 n/a n/a 
			 4 97.35 95.00 77.25 n/a n/a 
			 5 90.00 91.80 74.91 n/a n/a 
			 6 90.00 88.00 74.30 n/a n/a 
			 7 90.00 85.25 66.00 n/a n/a 
			 8 88.15 85.10 65.30 n/a n/a 
			 9 84.00 82.00 64.25 n/a n/a 
			 10 83.82 80.90 64.10 n/a n/a 
			 11 81.12 72.54 62.35 n/a n/a 
			 12 80.00 71.39 60.55 n/a n/a 
			 13 77.20 70.05 60.00 n/a n/a 
			 14 74.54 69.10 53.45 n/a n/a 
			 15 74.23 68.11 53.00 n/a n/a 
			 16 73.20 62.15 51.75 n/a n/a 
			 17 70.10 60.00 44.60 n/a n/a 
			 18 70.05 60.00 39.30 n/a n/a 
			 19 70.00 56.07 38.45 n/a n/a 
			 20 70.00 54.05 38.20 n/a n/a 
		
	
	Care Quality Commission (CQC)
	CQC cannot provide the requested details without incurring a disproportionate cost as their accounting system does not differentiate between travel and subsistence.
	Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)
	The HFEA has estimated that, in order to provide the information requested, it would be at disproportionate cost as the data would not be apparent from the accounting entries alone. For senior officials and authority members, all of the HFEA data is published on:
	www.data.gov.uk

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has received representations from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in support of the relaxation of childcare ratios.

Elizabeth Truss: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a number of reports that compare the early years systems within member countries, including looking at the different staffing and qualification requirements. The Department for Education has engaged directly with the OECD to better understand their research findings, and to see what their evidence suggests could improve the English system. I have corresponded with Andreas Schleicher, Special Adviser on Education Policy to the Secretary-General of the OECD, who is supportive of improving staff qualifications and says the best education systems prioritise quality of staff over class sizes. He has acknowledged the importance of the proposals in ‘More great childcare’, published by the Government in January 2013, including our intention to bring England more into line with comparable countries.
	Andreas Schleicher said:
	“Results from PISA show that high performing education systems consistently prioritise the quality of their staff over the size of classes. OECD's work on early childhood education (Starting Strong 3) underlines the importance of having staff with proper educational qualifications and that staff qualifications are the best predictor of the quality of early childhood education and care.”

Children: Poverty

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the accuracy and effectiveness of the statistics used for measuring child poverty in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: The Government is committed to tackling child poverty and to the Child Poverty Act 2010. However, we do not believe that the targets set in the Act, looked at in isolation, capture the full reality of poverty in the United Kingdom. This is why we have consulted on better measures of child poverty. The targets in the Act, which are separate from the statistics used to monitor them, can drive perverse policy decisions designed to move families above an arbitrary income line, rather than tackling the underlying root causes of poverty.
	The statistical methodology of collecting the statistics is not in question. The relative low income, absolute low income, and combined low income and material deprivation child poverty target measures are sourced from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) publication. This publication has been designated as a National Statistic by the UK Statistics Authority; this means it is fully compliant with the principles in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. These principles include that the statistics be produced using sound methods, and are quality assured, taking account of internationally agreed practices.
	The statistics within the HBAI publication are largely based on data collected through the Family Resources Survey (FRS) which are considered to be robust and of good quality. Like all sample surveys of this type they are subject to both sampling error as well as bias from non-sampling error. However rigorous checks and analysis are carried out to ensure that consistent valid and reliable results are produced which are statistically fit for purpose against the targets set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010.

Children: Poverty

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the likelihood of meeting the child poverty targets set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: The Government is committed to tackling child poverty and to the Child Poverty Act 2010. The targets in the Act are based on measures of median income and therefore rely on the performance of the economy, on people's behaviours and on Government policy. As the recent IFS report on poverty in Northern Ireland acknowledges, these cannot be predicted with certainty over this time scale. The Government has recently consulted on how best to measure child poverty, reflecting the ongoing commitment to tackling the root causes of poverty.

Email

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he still uses the Mrs Blurt email account to send and receive emails for the purpose of official government business; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: The Secretary of State and his special advisers use equipment and systems provided by the Department and their own IT equipment as appropriate, depending on their location and circumstances. Where information is generated in the course of conducting Government business, it is stored on departmental systems.

Free Schools: Brighton

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will prevent the proposal to build a new free school site on a playing field used by Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Brighton and Hove Sixth Form College and Stanford Junior and Infant schools; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: No decision has yet been taken by Ministers. The plans under discussion mean just 3.6 acres will be used for a much-needed new school—out of a total site of 22 acres. The amount of open space which will still available to the local community is equal to around 17 full-size football pitches.
	Brighton and Hove is seeing heavy pressure on school places. We want to work with the council to get the right result for Brighton and Hove's children.

Inflation

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the purposes for which his Department uses (a) the retail price index measure of inflation, (b) the consumer price index measure of inflation and (c) any alternative measure of inflation.

David Laws: The key purposes for which the Department uses different measures of inflation include:
	(1) The Teacher's Pension Scheme (TPS):
	Pensions and benefits accrued and paid under the TPS are currently uplifted in each year by the consumer prices index (CPI). Furthermore, there are provisions in the TPS relating to historical purchases of additional pension by scheme members, which are indexed by the retail prices index (RPI) in very limited circumstances.
	(2) Published impact assessments:
	In accordance with the guidance given in HM Treasury's Green Book, GDP deflators (a whole economy measure of inflation) are used in published impact assessments to express the costs and benefits of policy proposals in real terms.
	(3) School building and maintenance contracts:
	The Department uses the BIS public sector (non-housing) index (which measures the movement of tender prices for building contracts in the public sector) when setting the maximum price against which contractors may bid for 'design and build' contracts under the Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP). RPIX (RPI minus mortgage interest payments) is used to calculate part of the unitary charge that is paid to providers under long-term private finance agreements, to ensure that payments to operate premises for the life of the contract—typically 25 years—are in line with the costs of providing services like building maintenance.
	(4) Long-term contracts with service providers:
	The TPS is administered under contract by Capita, whose contract fee is uplifted annually by the CPI. Payments in relation to the contract to manage the marking of key stage 2 tests are also linked to the CPI.

Schools: Buildings

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what funding his Department makes available to primary schools to build eco-friendly buildings.

David Laws: The Government is providing over £18 billion of capital support for investment in schools in England over the current four year spending period, 2011-12 to 2014-15; including nearly £4 billion this financial year. How this is spread between primary, secondary and special schools varies according to the specific priorities in each local authority area.
	All new school buildings must satisfy the building regulations, which include requirements for energy conservation and the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from buildings. In addition, the Department specifies a sustainable approach to the design and construction of school buildings in its capital programmes. This covers issues such as maximising the use of natural ventilation and daylight in classrooms and minimising water use and waste, both in a building's construction and during its operation.

Secondary Education: Admissions

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of children in (a) England and (b) Harlow constituency secured places at (i) their first choice and (ii) one of their top three choices of secondary school during the most recent application period.

David Laws: The Department collects data from local authorities on how many families received an offer of a place at one of their preferred secondary schools. The most recent data relates to the start of the 2013/14 academic year. Figures for England and the local authority of Essex, which includes Harlow parliamentary constituency, are given in the following table.
	The figures are gathered at local authority level only so data for Harlow parliamentary constituency is not available.
	
		
			 Applications and offers for entry to secondary schools in England and Essex local authority in academic year 2013/14 
			 Percentage of children: Essex LA England 
			 Offered first preference school 86.9 86.7 
			 Offered one of top three preferences 96.6 96.5 
			 Note: Data collected from local authorities on National Offers day, 1 March 2013. 
		
	
	These figures were published on 26 March 2013 in the statistical first release “Secondary school applications and offers in England: March 2013”, available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/secondary-school-applications-and-offers-in-england-march-2013

Special Educational Needs

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether visually-impaired children with special educational needs will be entitled to (a) an education, health and care plan and (b) specialist support from birth where appropriate to their assessed needs; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether all children and young people with severe sight loss will receive an education, health and care plan; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Children and Families Bill will ensure that eligibility for an Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan) remains the same as it is now for a statement of special educational needs (SEN) or post-16 Learning Difficulty Assessment (LDA), including for children and young people with a visual impairment. Decisions about whether an individual child or young person will require an EHC plan will be made by local authorities on a case by case basis.
	Many children and young people with a visual impairment currently have a statement of SEN currently. In 2012 there were a total of 8,900 pupils recorded as having a visual impairment as their primary need. Of these, 5,305 were receiving support through School Action Plus and 3,595 had a statement of SEN.
	EHC plans will be built on a much stronger, streamlined assessment process which includes parents, children and young people, and focuses more clearly on their outcomes and aspirations. This will be underpinned by a new duty in the Children and Families Bill for local authorities and health commissioners to plan and commission services for children and young people with SEN jointly. The Bill includes a duty on the health service to bring a child under school age to the attention of the local authority, where they believe the child has (or probably has) SEN. This will enable earlier identification and provision of support, including for visual impairment.
	Local authorities have duties to support disabled children under the Children Act 1989. Local authority sensory support services work with families from, birth to support the child's development. In addition, the Department has awarded a contract to the National Sensory Impairment Partnership costing £1.1 million over two years. This contract includes specific work on Braille support and supporting local authorities to develop an effective local offer for children and young people with sensory impairments.

Staff

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education who the members of the (a) School Teachers' Review Body, (b) Office of the Children's Commissioner and (c) Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service were on 1 January 2013; and what the (i) ethnicity, (ii) term of office and (iii) remuneration is of each such member.

Edward Timpson: The names, terms of office and remuneration arrangements for the Children's Commissioner and Board Members of the School Teachers' Review Body and Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service are provided in the following tables.
	The ethnicity of individual members is collected on a voluntary and self-defined basis. This information is classed as “sensitive personal data” under the Data Protection Act 1998. There is, however, information in the public domain which gives an overview of public appointees' ethnicity on an “aggregate” basis. This information can be found in the Cabinet Office document “Public Bodies 2012”, which can be accessed via the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/79258/public-bodies-2012_1.pdf
	The relevant table from this document is replicated for ease.
	
		
			 Public appointments—Ethnicity 
			 Department Total appointments Appointees who have declared an ethnic minority status 
			 Cabinet Office 91 5 
			 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 592 8 
			 Department for Communities and Local Government 91 7 
			 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 450 38 
			 Department for Education 41 8 
			 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 724 23 
			 Department for International Development 19 0 
			 Department for Transport 98 (1)— 
			 Department for Work and Pensions 102 6 
			 Department of Energy and Climate Change 78 (1)— 
			 Department of Health 2,307 158 
			 Export Credits Guarantee Department 8 0 
			 Food Standards Agency 101 (1)— 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 53 (1)— 
			 Forestry Commission 79 (1)— 
		
	
	
		
			 Government Equalities Office 14 (1)— 
			 Her Majesty's Treasury 35 (1)— 
			 Home Office 186 6 
			 Ministry of Defence 374 (1)— 
			 Ministry of Justice 3,251 186 
			 Northern Ireland Office 45 (1)— 
			 Scotland Office 3 0 
			 Total 8,742 464 
			 (1 )Represents numbers of less than five. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 1: Children's Commissioner 
			 Children's Commissioner Term of office Remuneration (£) 
			 Dr Maggie Atkinson Appointed for five-year term on 1 March 2010 140,000 per annum 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service 
			 Board member Term of office Remuneration paid in 2012-13 (£) 
			 Claire Tyler (Chair) Three years—appointed 23 January 2012 44,000 
			 Mary Macleod (Deputy) Appointed initially 1 May 2009 Appointment to Deputy Chair 1 April 2012 to 22 January 2015 20,039 
			 Professor Ian Butler Appointed initially 1 May 2009 for three years Appointed for an additional two years on 1 May 2012 10,039 
			 Kamaljit Singh Appointed initially 1 April 2010 for three years Appointed for an additional two years on 1 April 2013 10,039 
			 Terence Connor Appointed initially 1 April 2010 for three years Appointed for an additional one year on 1 April 2013. 10,039 
			 Stuart Smith Three years—appointed on 1 April 2012 10,039 
			 Fay Selvan Two years—appointed on 1 April 2012 10,039 
			 Francis Plowden Three years—appointed on 1 April 2012 10,039 
			 John Lakin Three years—appointed on 4 February 2012 10,039 s 
			 Honor Rhodes Three years—appointed on 15 June 2012 7,975 
			 Geoff Bush (Co-opted member) Two years—appointed on 1 October 2012 4,589 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: School Teachers' Review Body 
			 Board member Term of office Remunerationpaid in 2012/13 (£) 
			 Dame Patricia Hodgson (Chair) Three years—appointed 1 February 2012 19,950 
			 Stella Pantelides Three years—appointed 25 February 2012 (2nd term of office) 9,300 
			 Jill Pullen Three years—appointed 16 December 2012 (2nd term of office) 9,900 
			 Dr Patricia Rice Three years—appointed 1 April 2011 8,700 
			 Jonathan Crossley-Holland Three years—appointed 1 November 2012 3,300 
			 Peter Batley Three years—appointed 1 November 2012 4,800 
			 Debbie Meech Three years—appointed 1 November 2012 3,300

Teachers: Qualifications

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to the answer of 24 April 2013, Official Report, column 966W, on teachers: qualifications, how many teachers in secondary schools are teaching subjects in which they do not have a degree in each local education authority.

David Laws: Information in the form requested could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the number of teachers teaching individual subjects in secondary schools by the level of their qualification is published in Table 13 of the 'School Workforce in England, November 2012' Statistical First Release, which is available at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2012
	
		
			 Table 13: Highest post A level qualifications(1,2) held by publicly funded secondary school teachers (head count) in the subjects(3) they taught to year groups 7-13 in 2012, November 2012, England 
			 Percentage 
			  Highest level of qualification(1) held in a relevant subject(3,4)    
			  Degree or higher(5) Bachelor of Education Postgraduate Certificate of Education Other qualification(6)    
			 Subject(3) % ± CI(7) % ± CI(7) % ± CI(7) % ± CI(7) Any relevant post A level qualification % No relevant post A level qualification % Total head count (thousand) 
			 Mathematics 45.1 ± 1 5.7 ± 0 20.8 ± 1 5.4 ± 0 76.9 23.1 32.8 
			 English 64.4 ± 1 3.4 ± 0 8.4 ± 0 3.7 ± 0 79.9 20.1 36.6 
			                 
			 Physics(8) 55.4 ± 2 2.0 ± 1 7.4 ± 1 1.0 ± 0 65.9 34.1 6.0 
			 Chemistry(8) 66.0 ± 1 1.7 ± 0 7.0 ± 1 1.0 ± 0 75.7 24.3 7.2 
			 Biology(8) 79.0 ± 1 2.5 ± 0 4.8 ± 1 0.9 ± 0 87.1 12.9 8.7 
			 Combined/General science(8) 77.0 ± 1 3.3 ± 0 9.1 ± 0 2.3 ± 0 91.6 8.4 32.7 
			 Other Sciences(8) 77.4 ± 2 2.8 ± 1 2.8 ± 1 1.1 ± 1 84.1 15.9 2.4 
			                 
			 History 63.0 ± 1 2.4 ± 0 5.9 ± 1 1.5 ± 0 72.8 27.2 15.8 
			 Geography 59.7 ± 1 2.4 ± 0 4.8 ± 1 1.2 ± 0 68.1 31.9 14.2 
			                 
			 French 50.1 ± 1 3.6 ± 0 19.3 ± 1 2.3 ± 0 75.3 24.7 14.3 
			 German 52.9 ± 2 1.7 ± 1 13.1 ± 1 1.6 ± 0 69.3 30.7 5.2 
			 Spanish 33.3 ± 2 1.3 ± 0 12.8 ± 1 2.1 ± 1 49.5 50.5 6.8 
		
	
	
		
			 Other Modern Languages 23.5 ± 3 0.2 ± 0 10.2 ± 2 4.8 ± 1 38.7 61.3 3.0 
			                 
			 Design and technology(9) 56.2 ± 1 13.0 ± 1 9.2 ± 1 6.3 ± 1 84.7 15.3 13.8 
			                 
			 Electronics/Systems and Control(9) 59.4 ± 4 15.2 ± 3 5.9 ± 2 3.6 ± 1 84.2 15.8 1.2 
			 Food Technology(9) 45.6 ± 2 14.9 ± 1 9.3 ± 1 9.1 ± 1 78.8 21.2 4.9 
			 Graphics(9) 65.0 ± 2 11.4 ± 1 10.3 ± 1 4.3 ± 1 91.0 9.0 3.6 
			 Resistant Materials(9) 63.0 ± 2 14.6 ± 1 7.7 ± 1 4.4 ± 1 89.7 10.3 4.2 
			 Textiles(9) 61.3 ± 2 9.1 ± 1 10.4 ± 1 6.4 ± 1 87.2 12.8 3.1 
			 Other/Combined Technology(9) 53.1 ± 1 12.3 ± 1 9.5 ± 1 5.8 ± 0 80.7 19.3 15.4 
			 Engineering 16.0 ± 5 0.5 ± 1 0.7 ± 1 1.2 ± 2 18.5 81.5 1.5 
			 ICT(10) 25.8 ± 1 1.7 ± 0 10.4 ± 1 5.1 ± 1 43.0 57.0 16.3 
			                 
			 Business/Economics 55.0 ± 1 4.2 ± 1 4.4 ± 1 20.5 ± 1 84.1 15.9 10.4 
			 Religious Education(11) 33.3 ± 1 2.5 ± 0 8.5 ± 1 13.0 ± 1 57.2 42.8 15.4 
			                 
			 Music 76.3 ± 1 3.6 ± 1 3.7 ± 1 2.3 ± 0 86.0 14.0 7.4 
			 Drama 41.5 ± 1 2.6 ± 0 8.2 ± 1 4.1 ± 1 56.4 43.6 10.5 
			 Art and design 73.8 ± 1 4.3 ± 0 7.0 ± 1 2.1 ± 0 87.2 12.8 12.8 
			 Media Studies 18.5 ± 2 0.6 ± 0 2.4 ± 1 0.9 ± 1 22.4 77.6 6.1 
			                 
			 Physical education 59.2 ± 1 14.1 ± 1 6.7 ± 0 2.7 ± 0 82.6 17.4 24.7 
			                 
			 Citizenship 3.9 ± 2 0.1 ± 0 2.8 ± 2 0.9 ± 1 7.7 92.3 8.2 
			 ‘*’ = Not applicable. ‘—’ = Nil or negligible. (1) Where a teacher has more than one post A level qualification in the same subject, the qualification level is determined by the highest level reading from left (Degree or higher) to right (Other Qualification). For example, teachers shown under PGCE have a PGCE but not a Degree. (2) Not including qualifications in Special Educational Needs provision. (3) Teachers are counted once against each subject which they are teaching. Head counts are used, so a teacher teaching French and German would be counted once in each. (4) A full list of what was deemed as a 'relevant' qualification subject for each curriculum subject taught can be found in the SFR home page. (5) Includes Doctorates and other Level 8 qualifications, Masters and other Level 7 qualifications (e.g. Post Graduate certificates and diplomas), first degrees (excluding BEds) and other level 6 qualifications (e.g. graduate certificates and diplomas). (6) Includes Certificate of Education, Non-UK Qualifications where the level was not provided and Other Qualification at National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level 4 or 5 and above e.g. diplomas or higher education and further education, foundation degrees, higher national diplomas and certificates of higher education. (7) Confidence intervals have been calculated around the proportions as not all schools were able to submit curriculum information, and not all qualifications returns were complete. Qualifications information was either not provided, or the subject field was missing for 12% of the teachers in schools submitting curriculum data. The confidence intervals show the statistical accuracy for the data, and give a range within which we can be reasonably sure (95% certain) that the true value actually lies. (8) Teachers qualified in biology, chemistry, or physics are treated to teach both combined/general science and other science. (9) Teachers qualified in each of the specialist design and technology subjects are treated as qualified to teach other/combined design and technology. (10) Information and Communication Technology is abbreviated as ICT and Personal Social and Health Education is abbreviated as PSHE. (11) Includes philosophy. Notes: 1. Percentages are row percentages, and based on the number of teachers for whom curriculum and qualifications information was provided. 2. Numbers rounded to the nearest 100 and numbers below 50 are shown as nil or negligible. 3. Totals may not appear equal to the sum of the component parts because of rounding. Base: 163,835 secondary level teachers (unweighted head count). Source: School Workforce Census

Transport: Schools

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much each local authority spent in fulfilling the statutory duties in respect of home school travel arrangements for young people aged up to 16 years in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Laws: The available information on how much was spent on home to school travel arrangements as reported by each local authority for schools in England for the financial year 2011-12 is set out in the following table. This is the latest year for which data is available.
	
		
			  £ 
			 Barking and Dagenham 0 
			 Barnet 213,027 
			 Barnsley 1,043,000 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 2,452,848 
			 Bedford Borough 3,259,072 
			 Bexley 10,000 
			 Birmingham 1,556,371 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 675,592 
			 Blackpool 542,357 
			 Bolton 738,370 
			 Bournemouth 469,594 
			 Bracknell Forest 382,271 
			 Bradford 3,515,238 
			 Brent 12,130 
			 Brighton and Hove 20,519 
		
	
	
		
			 Bristol, City of 204,438 
			 Bromley 38,997 
			 Buckinghamshire 10,957,412 
			 Bury 501,488 
			 Calderdale 1,265,881 
			 Cambridgeshire 10,776,737 
			 Camden 45,264 
			 Central Bedfordshire 3,937,740 
			 Cheshire East 4,754,670 
			 Cheshire West and Chester 1,027,744 
			 City of London 0 
			 Cornwall 9,936,147 
			 Coventry 572,646 
			 Croydon 0 
			 Cumbria 8,701,611 
			 Darlington 1,636,163 
			 Derby 118,201 
			 Derbyshire 2,900,783 
			 Devon 16,580,077 
			 Doncaster 1,000,798 
			 Dorset 7,188,655 
			 Dudley 475,169 
			 Durham 9,247,537 
			 Ealing 0 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 6,747,717 
			 East Sussex 0 
			 Enfield 77,486 
			 Essex 17,644,786 
			 Gateshead 209,554 
			 Gloucestershire 8,497,140 
			 Greenwich 32,537 
			 Hackney 41,870 
			 Halton 235,032 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 0 
			 Hampshire 10,476,481 
			 Haringey 2,542,037 
			 Harrow 0 
			 Hartlepool 522,985 
			 Havering 321,559 
			 Herefordshire 4,889,270 
			 Hertfordshire 9,214,182 
			 Hillingdon 48,642 
			 Hounslow 0 
			 Isle of Wight 2,926,234 
			 Isles of Scilly 57,426 
			 Islington 0 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 52,333 
			 Kent 16,549,498 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of 5,551 
			 Kingston upon Thames 16,918 
			 Kirklees 837,416 
			 Knowsley 178,317 
			 Lambeth 0 
			 Lancashire 11,899,100 
			 Leeds 3,896,609 
			 Leicester 582,806 
			 Leicestershire 9,180,816 
			 Lewisham 7,528 
			 Lincolnshire 19,426,598 
			 Liverpool 1,870,869 
			 Luton 992,705 
			 Manchester 2,290,034 
		
	
	
		
			 Medway 1,161,298 
			 Merton 154,088 
			 Middlesbrough 523,618 
			 Milton Keynes 3,754,841 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 354,835 
			 Newham 0 
			 Norfolk 12,969,675 
			 North East Lincolnshire 545,861 
			 North Lincolnshire 2,507,250 
			 North Somerset 1,328,822 
			 North Tyneside 536,743 
			 North Yorkshire 18,816,025 
			 Northamptonshire 6,786,499 
			 Northumberland 10,195,821 
			 Nottingham 529,748 
			 Nottinghamshire 5,440,760 
			 Oldham 0 
			 Oxfordshire 9,911,399 
			 Peterborough 1,911,592 
			 Plymouth 352,649 
			 Poole 643,835 
			 Portsmouth 273,156 
			 Reading 239,841 
			 Redbridge 837,811 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 1,805,936 
			 Richmond upon Thames 39,173 
			 Rochdale 434,292 
			 Rotherham 0 
			 Rutland 946,833 
			 Salford 97,834 
			 Sandwell 307,577 
			 Sefton 188,630 
			 Sheffield 894,802 
			 Shropshire 6,643,002 
			 Slough 302,458 
			 Solihull 659,329 
			 Somerset 11,784,996 
			 South Gloucestershire 2,856,371 
			 South Tyneside 390,289 
			 Southampton 337,307 
			 Southend-on-Sea 275,098 
			 Southwark 4,434,047 
			 St Helens 355,946 
			 Staffordshire 7,803,194 
			 Stockport 758,201 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 1,278,586 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 765,229 
			 Suffolk 10,675,044 
			 Sunderland 84,661 
			 Surrey 10,991,183 
			 Sutton 0 
			 Swindon 1,153,378 
			 Tameside 758,928 
			 Telford and Wrekin 1,150,233 
			 Thurrock 1,738,208 
			 Torbay 595,853 
			 Tower Hamlets 42,298 
			 Trafford 520,558 
			 Wakefield 3,416,542 
			 Walsall 0 
			 Waltham Forest 0 
			 Wandsworth 78,588 
		
	
	
		
			 Warrington 1,260,936 
			 Warwickshire 10,044,573 
			 West Berkshire 2,164,649 
			 West Sussex 8,504,970 
			 Westminster 0 
			 Wigan 127,539 
			 Wiltshire 0 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 660,610 
			 Wirral 114,793 
			 Wokingham 985,777 
			 Wolverhampton 696,200 
			 Worcestershire 7,368,233 
			 York 1,548,696 
			   
			 England 426,848,329 
			 Source: Section 251 Outturn 2011-12.

Young People: Mental Illness

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of people of school and college age had one or more psychological conditions in each of the last 30 years; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such conditions on the ability of those students to learn.

Edward Timpson: This information is not collected centrally. However; two surveys have been carried out by the Office for National Statistics.
	In 1999, the Office for National Statistics carried out a survey on behalf of the Department of Health, the Scottish Health Executive and the National Assembly for Wales. They found that 9.5% of five to 15-year-olds had a clinically recognisable mental disorder.
	In 2004, they conducted a further survey entitled the ‘Mental health of children and young people in Great Britain’, 2004 (ONS 2005), which stated that 9.6% of five to 16-year-olds had a clinically recognisable mental disorder.
	Attainment data is collected by the Department for Education. The latest figures, released in March 2013, show that young people who were identified as having some form of special educational need (SEN) at age 15 have considerably lower attainment levels at 19 compared to young people without any identified SEN. This is across all forms of SEN, not just those with psychological conditions.

Bill of Rights Commission

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which people and organisations the (a) Chairman and (b) Secretary of the Commission on a Bill of Rights have met to discuss the Commissions work since the Commission was established excluding (i) seminars, (ii) meetings with parliamentary committees and (iii) meetings during visits to Strasbourg, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

Helen Grant: The list of people and organisations the Commission on a Bill of Rights met since it was established in March 2011 is Annex A in the second volume of the Commission's final report, which was published on 18 December 2012.
	The full report is available at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/about/cbr

Fireworks: Fixed Penalties

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many fixed penalties were issued relating to the misuse of fireworks in (a) Bassetlaw constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) Nottinghamshire in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The penalty notice for disorder (PND) scheme was introduced in all 43 police force areas, in England and Wales in 2004, under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. Under the scheme, the police are able to issue penalty notices to persons aged 16 and over for a range of offences related to the misuse of fireworks including throwing fireworks, breach of fireworks curfew (11 pm to 7 am), possession of a category 4 firework and possession by a person under 18 of adult firework. All these offences attract the higher tariff of £80. The aim of the PND scheme is to provide operational officers a quick and effective alternative disposal option for dealing with low-level, anti-social and nuisance offending.
	The number of penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) issued to offenders aged 16 and over for offences related to the misuse of fireworks, in South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire police force areas, in each year between 2007 and 2011 (latest available) can be viewed in the table. These data are not available at parliamentary constituency level.
	Information on the use of PNDs in 2012 is planned for publication in May 2013.
	
		
			 Number of penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) issued to offenders aged 16 and over for offences related to the misuse of fireworks, in South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire police force areas, 2007 to 2011 
			 Police force area/Offence 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 South Yorkshire      
			 Throwing fireworks(1) 32 15 14 21 31 
			 Breach of fireworks curfew(2) 3 0 1 1 1 
			 Possession of category 4 firework(2) 2 0 2 2 0 
			 Possession by a person under 18 of adult firework(2) 7 0 5 6 6 
			       
			 Nottinghamshire      
			 Throwing fireworks(1) 6 6 13 3 4 
			 Breach of fireworks curfew(2) 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Possession of category 4 firework(2) 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Possession by a person under 18 of adult firework(2) 2 0 2 5 0 
			 (1) Offences under the Explosives Act 1875, S.80: Throwing, casting or firing any fireworks in or into any highway, street, public place etc. (2 )Offences under the Fireworks Regulations 2004 under s11 of the Fireworks Act 2003. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services within the Ministry of Justice.

Legal Aid Scheme

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether, within the consultation on reform of criminal legal aid, any consideration has been given to how a service based on geographical areas might impact on specialist firms who may have to act outside their area.

Jeremy Wright: The Government is currently consulting on a proposed model of competitive tendering via the “Transforming Legal Aid: delivering a more credible and efficient system” consultation which closes on 4 June 2013. We have been clear we must continue to bear down on the cost of legal aid, including the £1 billion of taxpayers’ money spent on criminal legal aid a year, to ensure we are getting the best deal for the taxpayer. As we have made clear on numerous occasions, we believe the single most effective way of doing this is to move away from the current complex system of administratively set fees, through the introduction of competitive tendering, where providers compete to offer their services at the best possible price. We are actively engaging with stakeholders on the proposals and welcome all responses to the consultation.
	Under the proposed model, a contract to deliver criminal legal aid defence services in one procurement area would not permit a provider to deliver services in another procurement area except where a case crossed procurement area boundaries. This restriction would only apply to those classes of work against which we propose to set the price by the competition. All other services, for example, prison law services, would not be restricted to delivery in the specific procurement area. However, every contractor awarded a new contract following competitive tendering would be obliged to deliver all services as prescribed under their contract.
	The proposed model would ensure that providers would be guaranteed a specific share of the work available (and control of the case from beginning to end). By awarding longer and larger contracts with greater certainty of volumes, providers would have increased opportunities to grow their businesses, become more efficient, and thereby reduce cost to the taxpayer.
	The Ministry of Justice has provided an impact assessment of the proposals set out in the consultation paper which is based on the data they currently hold and would welcome information on other factors that should be taken into consideration when evaluating the impact of the proposals. The Ministry of Justice would welcome feedback on the proposed model via the Ministry’s website at:
	https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/transforming-legal-aid

Legal Aid Scheme: Cornwall

Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which providers have been chosen to deliver the (a) Standard Crime, (b) Standard Civil, (c) Family and (d) Community Legal Advice legal aid contract in Cornwall; what the value is of each such contract; and what estimate he has made of the number of people assisted through each such contract.

Jeremy Wright: The providers selected to deliver legal aid contracts in the Cornwall procurement area(1) in the categories of Standard Crime, Standard Civil and Family are detailed in the annex.
	Standard Crime Contracts commenced in July 2010. All face to face civil legal aid work is delivered under a Standard Civil Contract. Contracts for Family work, along with Immigration and Asylum and Housing and Debt commenced in April 2013. Contracts for all other civil legal aid work commenced in November 2010. Organisations may deliver work across more than one category of law/contract but are counted once only in each of (a), (b) and (c) above. Details provided exclude Family Mediation providers.
	Civil Legal Advice (CLA) (formerly Community Legal Advice) specialist telephone advice contracts are national contracts, which are not split into separate procurement areas by region but cover the entirety of England and Wales. Current CLA contracts commenced on 1 April and offer civil legal advice in Family, Housing and Debt, Education and Discrimination. At 9 May 2013 the organisations holding CLA contracts are shown at the annex:
	For the Standard Crime and Standard Civil contracts, there is no 'value' assigned and as such the Legal Aid Agency cannot provide this information. This is because the contracts issued authorise organisations to undertake work but do not guarantee income. For criminal work, providers are allocated 'duty slots' in which they obtain clients whose cases arise during that session. For civil face to face work, providers are allocated a number of 'matter starts' which authorise them to undertake initial advice for clients which attracts a fixed fee. However, cases that subsequently require legal representation are funded on a case by case basis with costs agreed accordingly. For CLA contracts, the contract value in practice is determined by the number of calls received nationally.
	The Legal Aid Agency does not record the number of individuals who receive legal aid. Instead it records the number of 'acts of assistance'. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance if they have a range of problems or need different levels of service eg advice and representation at Court. Estimates are not made of the total number of acts of assistance at a regional or individual firm level. Although there is an estimation of the number of "matter starts" allocated at a firm and procurement area level (which roughly corresponds to a local authority area) there is no corresponding estimation of certificates granted to individuals. This is because the number of legal aid certificates granted is dependent on the number of applications that satisfy the legal aid eligibility criteria.
	(1) Procurement area boundaries differ by area of law, for example, for the purpose of the Standard Crime Contract, the contracting area (Criminal Justice Service area) that includes Cornwall encompasses the whole of Devon and Cornwall. Detail has therefore been provided for organisations whose procurement area covers Cornwall, although in some instances providers may not be located in this specific area.
	Annex A
	(a) Standard Crime—As at 10 May the following organisations within the Devon and Cornwall Criminal Justice Service area held a Standard Criminal Contract:
	Foot Anstey LLP
	Trobridges
	Almy & Thomas
	Gowmans
	Qualitysolicitors Dunn & Baker
	@Cornwall Law LLP
	Slee Blackwell
	Windeatts
	WBW Solicitors
	Julian Jefferson
	Toller Beattie LLP
	Bazeley Barnes & Bazeley
	Woollcombe & Yonge
	Coodes
	Brewer Harding & Rowe
	Walters & Barbary
	Rundlewalker
	Ralph & Co. LLP
	DB Law
	D B LAW
	Owen Lawton
	Michael Oerton
	C Nicholls Solicitors
	Darby & Darby
	Walker Lahive
	Alan Harris Solicitors Ltd
	Tony Dart Solicitor & Advocate
	Parlbys Solicitors
	Bay Advocates Ltd
	Bay Advocates Ltd t/a Teign Advocates
	Howell Hylton Ltd
	Nunn Rickard Solicitor Advocates
	St James Solicitors
	Hansell Drew & Co. Ltd
	Phoenix Solicitors & Advocates
	Smiths Solicitors
	David Teague Solicitors
	Cox Burley Solicitors
	Michael Crumley Solicitor
	Glanville Robinson Ltd
	Trinity Advocates
	Cornwall Defence Solicitors LLP
	Smith Leaning Criminal Advocates
	Baileys Law LLP
	Boyle Leonard Willden Ltd
	Jacobs & Tricks
	(b) Standard Civil (Non-Family authorisation)—As at 10 May, the following organisations with an office in Cornwall held a Standard Civil Contract with authorisation to undertake civil non-family work:
	Follett Stock
	Coodes
	Preston Goldburn
	CVC Solicitors
	Conroys
	Trobridges
	John Boyle & Co. Solicitors LLP
	Shelter—Cornwall
	(c) Standard Civil (Family authorisation)—As at 10 May, the following organisations with an office in Cornwall held a Standard Civil Contract with authorisation to undertake Family work:
	Blight Skinnard
	Stephens & Scown LLP
	Ralph & Co. LLP
	Brains Solicitors
	C Nicholls Solicitors
	G & I Chisholm
	Walters & Barbary
	DB LAW
	D B LAW
	Trobridges
	@Cornwall Law LLP
	Coodes
	John Boyle & Co. Solicitors LLP
	(d) At 9 May 2013 the following organisations held CLA contracts:
	Family:
	Duncan Lewis
	Cooperative Legal Services
	Housing and Debt:
	Duncan Lewis
	DHA
	Shelter
	Carillion Energy Services
	Education:
	MG Law Ltd
	The Children's Legal Centre
	Tower Hamlets Law Centre
	Discrimination:
	Stephensons
	Howells
	Merseyside Employment Law

Prisoners' Transfers

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what reasons were recorded for the transfer of prisoners out of each prison establishment in England and Wales in each year from 2008 to 2012;
	(2)  what the average number of transfers was between prisons establishments per inmate serving a sentence of (a) six months or under, (b) between six and 12 months, (c) between one and four years, (d) between four and 10 years and (e) over 10 years in each year from 2010 to 2012.

Jeremy Wright: Prisoners are held in establishments that provide appropriate levels of security, are suitable for their gender, age and legal status, provide facilities to reduce their risk of reoffending and, wherever possible, at the lowest cost to the taxpayer.
	We do not generally hold data on the individual reasons for a prisoner's transfer or on the average length of time a prisoner spends in a prison before a transfer. Where this is available, the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as it would involve a manual trawl through the individual records of every prisoner.

Community Development Finance Institutions

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential for community development finance institutions to (a) lend to businesses and charities and (b) create jobs; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) undertook an evaluation of the Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) sector in spring 2010. The report highlighted the ability of CDFIs to be efficient vehicles for improving access to finance in under-served markets. BIS has continued to work closely with the sector through liaison with the Community Development Finance association (CDFA).
	Currently Government provides support to CDFIs through the following interventions:
	Regional Growth Fund (RGF). The CDFA has received £30 million under the first round of the RGF. This has been matched by Co-op Bank and Unity Trust to create an overall fund of £60 million for CDFIs to onward lend to SMEs and social enterprises.
	Start-Up Loans. Around 18 CDFIs are currently lead parties in delivery consortia for the Start-Up Loans scheme. A further 8-10 CDFIs are also involved in providing back office functions and/or volume lender provision to other delivery partners. To date the Start-Up Loans scheme has provided around 3,900 loans to new start up businesses.
	The Government's Community Investment Tax Relief scheme has enabled CDFIs to raise around £90 million to date for onward lending into the sector.
	BIS has also flexed the criteria of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), 13 accredited CDFIs now benefitting from access to the scheme.

Construction Industry Training Board

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many small and medium-sized construction enterprises are paying levies to the Construction Industry Training Board.

Matthew Hancock: The number of micro, small and medium-sized employers (SMEs) that paid the Construction Industry Training Board levy in 2012 was 24,949.
	A further 40,064 SMEs in the construction industry did not pay the levy as their total payroll costs fell below the small firms' exemption threshold.
	Note:
	These categories are based on the Office of National Statistics (ONS) classification of SMEs. In other words:
	Medium-sized: 50 to 249 employees
	Small: 10 to 49: employees
	Micro: 0 to 9: employees.

Construction Industry Training Board

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when the thresholds for payments to be made by small and medium-sized construction enterprises to the Construction Industry Training Board were last changed.

Matthew Hancock: The small firms' exemption threshold for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) Levy was last changed in 2009 when it was increased from total payroll costs of £76,000 to £80,000.
	CITB introduced a 'taper' in 2012 such that employers with total payroll costs between £80,000 and £100,000 are only required to pay 50% of their levy liability.
	Proposals for the exemption threshold levels are included as part of levy consultations with employers, and so are agreed by employers and subject to Levy Order approval through Parliament.

Credit: Interest Rates

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of payday loans made in (a) total and (b) in each region in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) payday lending compliance review estimated that the total number of payday loans made in 2011-12 was between 7.4 and 8.2 million. Government is not aware of estimates covering the periods 2010-11 and 2012-13. However, Consumer Futures estimated that the total number of payday loans in 2009 was 4.1 million. Government is not aware of any estimate of the number of payday loans in each region.
	We are very concerned about the mounting evidence that consumers are experiencing significant problems with payday lending across all regions. That is why on 6 March we announced a strong action plan for tackling the key problems in this market, alongside the regulators. In the immediate term, payday lending is a top enforcement priority for the OFT. They are taking strong action against the leading 50 payday lenders after uncovering evidence of widespread irresponsible lending. The full outcomes of this action should become apparent over the forthcoming months, with some early results already clear. The OFT also expect to announce in June whether to refer the payday market to the Competition Commission.
	Over the longer term, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is prioritising consideration of tough new rules that payday lenders will be subject to once the FCA takes over the regulation of consumer credit in April 2014. Payday lenders will face much more stringent authorisation and enforcement procedures from April 2014.

Foreign Investment in UK

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his Department's press notice of 9 May 2013, on inward investment and the London 2012 Olympics, how much of the additional £2.5 billion in foreign direct investment arising from the Olympics went to (a) Wales and (b) other nations and regions of the UK.

Michael Fallon: In the period up-to the end of March 2013, £21.54 million of investment went into Wales arising from the Olympics.
	Investment into other nations and regions of the UK as set out as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 East Midlands 3.86 
			 London 1006 
			 North East 19.43 
			 North West 30 
			 Scotland 115 
			 South East 81 
			 South West 716 
			 West Midlands 410 
			 Yorkshire 59.34

Green Economy Council

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many meetings of the Green Economy Council have been held since February 2011; what proposals and recommendations it has issued to Ministers; and if he will place on his Department's website copies of all papers discussed at the Council since its inception.

Michael Fallon: The Green Economy Council has met five times since it was convened in February 2011.
	The Council's role is to advise Government on policy development, copies of minutes and papers have therefore not been placed in the Library or on the Department's website.

Higher Education

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps the Government is taking to ensure the international competitiveness of UK universities.

David Willetts: The Government recognises the important contribution that our higher education (HE) institutions make to the UK through teaching, research and income from export activities. Our HE institutions have a world class reputation for quality which underpins their strong presence in international university league tables, recruitment of international students and in attracting international academics and funding to support research. Government supports this competitive position through a range of activities such as:
	The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) which reviews and reports on how well UK HE institutions maintain quality and standards in accordance with the UK Quality Code for Higher Education. This system has a global reputation for success and has influenced parallel developments overseas.
	The UK's research funding regime which supports activity of the highest quality and impact. Government funding for research has been protected in the current challenging economic climate, which gives our institutions confidence to continue investment research and related programmes.
	Promoting UK HE institutions overseas, through bilateral visits and missions to key overseas partners and the development of agreements, such as the UK India Education Research Initiative and participation in Brazil's Science without Borders programme. This activity aims to enable opportunity for a wide range of UK institutions, covering areas such as international student recruitment, the creation of partnerships between individual institutions and the joint funding of research and programmes.

Higher Education

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will consider increasing investment in innovative research and development in UK universities to bring it in line with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average.

David Willetts: According to OECD figures, in 2010, 27% of gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) in the UK was performed in the HE sector—above the OECD average of 19%.
	The Government recognises the importance of innovative research and development in UK universities and that is why, despite very difficult fiscal circumstances the £4.6 billion per annum funding for science and research programmes has been protected in cash terms and ring-fenced against future pressures during the spending review period.
	In addition to the £1.9 billion of capital funding announced in the 2010 spending review a number of announcements have been made for additional capital expenditure in research and innovation totalling £1.5 billion. This includes £300 million for the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund which will enhance the facilities for world class university research, by fevering at least double that amount of co-funding from the private sector and charities.

Higher Education: Admissions

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to reverse the decline in applications to universities in England and Wales by students from India and Pakistan.

David Willetts: Applicants to UCAS (undergraduates) from India increased from 2011 to 2012 and applicants to UCAS from Pakistan declined:
	
		
			 Applicants to UCAS (undergraduates) from India and Pakistan 
			 Year of entry India Pakistan 
			 2008 3,030 2,601 
			 2009 3,287 2,402 
			 2010 3,552 2,348 
			 2011 3,441 2,081 
			 2012 3,602 2,056 
			 Note: Entrants to higher education institutes in England and Wales from India and Pakistan decreased from 2010/11 to 2011/12. Source: UCAS 
		
	
	
		
			 Entrants by domicile English and Welsh HEIs 
			  2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 
			 India    
			 Postgraduate (PG) 17,220 17,000 11,220 
			 Undergraduate (UG) 3,550 4,935 3,620 
			 Total 20,770 21,930 14,840 
			     
			 Pakistan    
			 Postgraduate (PG) 3,485 3,940 2,755 
			 Undergraduate (UG) 1,310 1,565 1,365 
			 Total 4,795 5,510 4,120 
			 Source: HESA 
		
	
	The Prime Minister's visit to India featured higher education strongly on the agenda. I accompanied my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, leading a large delegation of UK Vice Chancellors, who participated in an education roundtable, and interacted directly with students in Janiki Devi college, Delhi and publicised a number of new partnerships and scholarships.
	The British high commissioner, James Bevan, has made higher education a central theme in many of his public speeches. For example, he listed the top 10 reasons to study in the UK in a speech on 23 November 2012
	www.gov.uk/government/speeches/uk-education-the-best-for-the-brightest
	and was published in Indian national press.
	The UK's ongoing support for student recruitment is delivered in a number of ways including:
	Promotion via press releases, social media and speeches by the high commission, British Council, and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).
	British Council Services for International Education Marketing. These are paid for services for the UK higher education (HE) sector to support their work in India including attendance at the UK education exhibitions or university visits. There are two main exhibitions each year which reach over eight key cities in India, and there are also now virtual exhibitions so that students can "tour" UK universities at other times of the year.
	Global Education UK website—a student facing web portal to help students in thinking of studying in the UK.
	Additionally many universities carry out work directly in India: some have their own offices, use their alumni or sign up agents to promote their institutions. 1
	In the next two years, we aim to reverse the trend in applications from prospective Indian students to UK universities. Through the British Council, we will use outreach events, social media, and other marketing measures to target young Indians, their families and education agents to underline the quality and value of a UK higher education. We will work in close partnership with UK universities themselves.
	In the past year the GREAT campaign funded 60 jubilee scholars from India. These students came from over 20 states across India and they will be spending one year in the UK undertaking a full time master's programme. These students will become ambassadors for future students. In addition a promotional film was made on "There's never been a better time to study in the UK". This film was screened across the MTV and CNN IBN networks over a three month period.
	BIS supports the UK education sector and the research councils to establish partnerships between UK and Indian HE institutions and also supports this work in the longer term. Through joint programmes, joint research and other collaborative activity there is potential for student exchange to be included in their partnership arrangements.
	The UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) is a five-year joint UK and Indian Government programme with the objective of enhancing the education and research relationship between India and the UK. The first phase ran from 2006 to 2011 and phase two was announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in July 2010 to run from 2011 to 2016. The programme is worth £5 million per year and focuses on four strands: leadership development, innovation partnerships, skill development, and enhancing mobility. The Research Council's UK partnership with India is worth over £100 million in joint research programmes and future activities to promote early researcher exchanges will form part of their work in collaboration with the UKIERI programme.
	Pakistan
	The British high commission, UKTI and the British Council work together to promote the UK as a destination of choice and the UK is the number one choice for Pakistani students to study higher education outside of Pakistan.
	For example, the high commission in Islamabad are running a Chevening scholarship programme and their 'Celebrating Connections' campaign aims to improve awareness of the links between Pakistan and the UK to further improve perceptions of the UK in Pakistan. The campaign spans education, trade and culture. ‘Education is GREAT’ branding is used at events and in publicity.
	UKTI supported a UK based event management company to organise an education fair earlier this year. Over 30 UK universities visited the market and participated in the fair.
	The British Council run regular campaigns across the core cities in Pakistan and last year these included:
	Employers' road-shows in Pakistan and the UK for Pakistan employers to meet with and discuss potential employment with Pakistani students studying in the UK and also have done the same in Pakistan. This has been very successful for students returning from the UK and also as an incentive for prospective students. These activities have taken place in five cities and involved over 100 employers.
	Regular education fairs, exhibitions and campaigns working with media partners.
	On line information and support campaigns to support students access linked to higher education institutions in the UK.
	The British Council work with education agents to provide effective training and high quality advice for prospective students and work with key Pakistani agencies such as the higher education commission on postgraduate studies in the UK.

Higher Education: Gender

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps the Government is taking to promote gender equality between academics in UK universities.

David Willetts: The responsibility for staff equality matters rests with higher education institutions (HEIs), as the employers. In the annual Grant Letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Government has encouraged the sector to continue to address long standing equality issues, including more diverse representation at senior levels in HEIs.
	Higher education institutions receiving grant funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England also have to meet the requirements of the public sector equality duty in the Equality Act 2010 and advance equality of opportunity.
	The Equality Challenge Unit, an independent higher education sector body, provides higher education institutions with support on all equality matters and works directly with institutions to help them tackle under-representation among staff groups.
	One example of the work it undertakes is the Athena SWAN Charter which recognises and celebrates good employment practice for women working in science, engineering and technology (SET) in higher education and research.
	Membership is open to any university or research institution committed to the advancement of the careers of women in SET. BIS provides some funding for Athena SWAN via the Royal Society as part of our science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) Diversity Programme.

Higher Education: Wales

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much research and development funding universities in Wales received from central government in the last year for which figures are available.

David Willetts: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data of income to higher education institutions shows the following research grant income from central Government received by universities in Wales in 2011-12:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 Higher Education Funding Council recurrent research grant 71.1 
			 BIS Research Councils research grants 51.0 
			 UK central Government bodies(1) 46.2 
			 (1) This includes UK central Government bodies, local authorities, health and hospital authorities. Note: BIS Research Councils research grant data excludes income from The Royal Society, British Academy and The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Source: HESA Finance Statistics Return 2011-12 Tables 5a and 5b-available at: http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_collns&task =show_colln&Itemid=232&c=C11031&s=5&wvy=any&wvs=1&isme=l

Insurance Companies: Billing

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to encourage insurance companies to sign up to the prompt payment code;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of late payment by insurance companies on small businesses;
	(3)  if he will launch a specific campaign to encourage insurance companies to pay small businesses promptly.

Michael Fallon: In November I wrote to the chief executives of companies in the FTSE350, including a number of insurance companies, urging them to sign up to the Prompt Payment Code (PPC). Three quarters of FTSE100 companies are now signatories. Insurance companies that have signed up to the code include Aviva plc, Admiral Group plc, Direct Line Group and Hasting Insurance Services Limited. A full list of companies signed up to the code can be found at:
	http://ppc.promptpaymentcode.org.uk/ppc/signatory_paged.a4d
	The Government understands how much of a strain late payment can put on all businesses (not just those affected by insurance companies) and has been actively working with both business and the finance community to understand where Government intervention can be helpful.
	We will continue to work to strengthen the PPC and encourage greater membership and explore the challenges of late payment in concert with business bodies.

Legal Costs

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the top 20 highest amounts paid for external legal advice by his Department was in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; to whom they were paid; and for what reasons the legal advice was sought.

Jo Swinson: This information is not held centrally within the Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Pay: Liverpool

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in Liverpool are currently paying the living wage and above; and if he will take steps to introduce a national living wage.

Jo Swinson: Information on how many businesses pay above the living wage is not available.
	The Government supports businesses that choose to pay the living wage however decisions on what wages to set, above the national minimum wage, are for employers and workers. There are no plans to introduce a national living wage.
	Our primary policy to support the low paid is through the national minimum wage. The aim is to help as many low-paid workers as possible, while making sure that we do not damage their employment prospects by setting it too high.
	The Government recognises that these are tough times and is doing absolutely everything it can to help those on low pay with the cost of living. That is why the Government is cutting income tax for the low paid and has taken 2.4 million people out of income tax altogether since 2010.
	Changes to the personal allowance mean that from April 2013, someone on the minimum wage working 29 hours a week will no longer pay income tax -and someone working full time (35 hours) on the minimum wage will have seen their income tax bill cut by more than half since 2010.
	Most employers choose to pay their employees more than the minimum wage. It is up to them to decide whether they wish to sign up voluntarily to pay a 'Living Wage'.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended;
	(2)  if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by his Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were.

Jo Swinson: The one in, one out rule was introduced on 1 September 2010 and applied to regulations introduced from 1 January 2011. One in, two out replaced the one in, one out rule and has applied to regulations introduced from 1 January 2013. Details of regulations introduced by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) that fall within the scope of one in, one out (OIOO) or one in, two out (OITO) are published in the statements of new regulation and will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his Department's announcement of 26 March 2013 of £31 million of funding for new nuclear technology, what amount has been set aside for (a) new renewable technology in the UK, (b) enhancements in that sector's supply chain and (c) increased opportunities to commercialise new renewable technologies in that sector; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The Department's announcement of 26 March 2013 of £31 million of funding was for new nuclear technology only.
	The Government expects to invest in excess of £800 million in this spending review period directly to support a broad portfolio of innovative low carbon technologies, including renewables.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has carried out a review of the research and development landscape in the UK for renewable energy technologies; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: On behalf of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Energy Programme, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) appointed Energy Strategy Fellow, Professor Jim Skea, to develop a new roadmap of research, skills and training needs across the entire energy landscape. The roadmap will provide the evidence base for the RCUK Energy Programme to plan its long-term research activities and investments.
	The Government also completed a review of the low carbon innovation landscape in 2011 which focused on enhancing the delivery of publicly funded innovation support for low carbon innovation technologies. A copy of the review is available in the Libraries of the House.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what consideration he has given to the establishment of a renewables research and development advisory board; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The Research Councils UK (RCUK) Energy Programme has a Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), which advises on the strategic direction, scientific content and co-ordination of research and development (R and D) within the Energy Programme.
	Representatives from BIS, Technology Strategy Board and Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) attend the RCUK Energy SAC meetings held three times a year. The membership also includes representatives from universities and business.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will develop research and development roadmaps for renewable energy technologies to ensure the UK is able to make informed decisions on future renewable options beyond 2020; if he will ensure that these roadmaps analyse the advantages of (a) the realisation of industrial benefits, (b) the development and exploitation of intellectual property internationally and (c) being seen as a credible international partner; if he will include in any such roadmaps the research outcomes that would support implementation of future technology pathways and detailed illustrative timelines as examples of these pathways; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The Government and its key partners in the Low Carbon Innovation Coordination Group (LCICG) have developed Technology Innovation Needs Assessments (TINAs) to inform the prioritisation of public sector investment in low carbon innovation. The aims of TINAs are to identify and value the key technology innovation needs that deliver the greatest benefit to the UK. Building on the TINAs, the LCICG is currently working with industry to develop a strategy for low carbon innovation. This will set out a shared LCICG vision of its members' aims, principles, approach and priorities within technology families for public investment between now and 2020. The intention is for this strategy to be published in autumn 2013.
	In 2011 the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) published a Renewable Energy Roadmap that sets out how we are going to reach our goal of generating 15% of our energy use from renewable by 2020. The Roadmap focused on seven key technologies, including offshore wind, marine energy and biomass heat, with a further update to add solar photovoltaics in December 2012. Deployment of these and other renewable technologies could bring significant investment and jobs to the UK. Between 1 April 2011 and 31 July 2012, DECC collated renewable industry announcements totalling around £12.7 billion confirmed and planned investments, with the potential to support of around 22,800 jobs.
	The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) appointed Professor Jim Skea as a Strategy Fellow for the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Energy Programme in May 2012. Professor Skea will develop a new roadmap of research, skills and training needs across the entire energy landscape to meet the UK 2050 climate change targets.
	The roadmap will be developed over five years and updated annually in light of new technological developments and policy change. During this time the Fellow will consult with stakeholders in the research community, government bodies including DECC and the private sector to map out systems of energy innovation for a range of countries and technologies. The Energy Technologies Institute will also provide support and industrial expertise for the development of the roadmap documents. The roadmap will provide the evidence base for the RCUK Energy Programme to plan its long-term research activities and investments.

Students: Loans

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2013, Official Report, column 73W, on fraud-error and debt, what estimate he has made of the annual savings to the Student Loans Company from the introduction of a check first before paying approach; and what the annual level of fraud reported by the Student Loans Company prior to the introduction of a check first before paying approach was since 2005.

David Willetts: Fraud detection and prevention are key areas of work for the Student Loan Company (SLC). The SLC has always applied a check first before paying approach, but is continuously looking to improve the quality of the data and tools it has to support that approach. It continues to make a valuable contribution to the counter fraud activities of the taskforce sharing good practice developed with support from a range of public and private sector partners. The following table provides a breakdown of the savings made by the SLC through it counter fraud work since 2011-12 when it was able to use new fraud prevention tools.
	
		
			 Financial year Savings from counter-fraud activities (£) 
			 2011-12 2,268,697 
			 2012-13 13,579,907 
			 Total 15,848,604

Travel

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible claimed reimbursement for travel subsistence expenses in each of the last five years; what the total cost was of such claims; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest subsistence claims in each such year.

Jo Swinson: Information on how many officials have claimed reimbursement for travel subsistence expenses, together with the monetary value of the 20 highest subsistence claims in each of the last five years is not held centrally within the Department, and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
	The following expenditure has been recorded within the Department's financial system against the subsistence reporting point:
	
		
			 Financial year Expenditure (£) 
			 2008/09 556,633 
			 2009/10 481,719 
			 2010/11 326,912 
			 2011/12 224,262 
			 2012/13 211,921 
			 2013/14 (up to 13 May 2013) 27,725 
		
	
	These data exclude non-departmental public bodies as this information is not held centrally within the Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.